The Empire Strikes Back
by VX-145
Summary: Alternate Universe. Not related to Star Wars. Isn't it kind of odd there were no "National" Evas? This is a universe where there were. If you're lucky, there might even be an explanation.
1. Chapter 1

**WALES**

**March 19, 2006**

The sound of dying soldiers filled the air. Volley after volley of artillery fire rained down – along with actual rain – on the final, pitiful, defensive line the British soldiers had set up. Entire lengths of trenches were wiped out in an instant; the only thing keeping the line reasonably intact was that most of the trenches and bunkers weren't occupied.

A company of American tanks rolled in after the artillery, firing on the move to suppress what little defensive fire could be mustered. Behind them poured an entire division of infantry, reservist National Guard who had been called up in the latest round of sermons from the American Patrician.

A pair of British tanks held the line, hull-down in concealed positions. True to tradition, their crews fired round after round of precisely-aimed armour-piercing ammunition, knocking out several of the American Abrams tanks before one of the omnipresent American planes carpeted the entire grid square they were in with cluster munitions.

Less than a mile away, a six-year-old boy lay, nearly dead. A pair of medics were rushing him to a huge hangar bay, where the nominal commander of the defenders was arguing with a man in a lab coat.

"I came here because you said you had a weapon that could save us!" shouted the army officer. "Here I am, and you have a half-finished... thing and a dying child!"

"It will work," said the other man, calmly. "It's finished enough to move, and he only has to survive long enough for us to put him into it."

The officer relaxed, and let out a breath. "Do whatever you wish. I'm going to see if I can scrounge up enough soldiers to man one last defence. Get that thing working; you've borrowed three days from my men and I don't have enough left to get you another hour. Your life depends on this," he said. He looked at the boy, briefly. "Poor kid," he said, walking out of the hangar, "it'd probably be more merciful just to let him die here..."

The boy woke up in a strange metal tube, wires running from his body into the chair he sat on. He was dimly aware of the tube filling up with some sort of liquid, but between his injuries and the drugs the medics had given him he wasn't entirely sure what was real any more. Voices seemed to float from nowhere – was that a radio, or was he hearing things as he died? He tried to focus, and only succeeded in making himself throw up. The liquid had reached his mouth, and the blood that had been pooling in there since he woke up was displaced by... more blood? The liquid – whatever it was – seemed a lot easier to breathe than air at the moment. Was he being treated in a hospital?

The walls of the tube suddenly burst into colour, and a spike of pain drove itself into the boy's head. Somehow, it managed to hurt even more than the bullets had, like some part of his mind and soul was being torn from the rest of him...

He noticed he was now outside, rain dripping from one of his arms. He seemed to be in a model town or something – all of the buildings looked tiny. He vaguely remembered a book about a man who found himself on an island filled with miniature people, and wondered if he'd managed to enter a book. He saw a tank, far below him on the ground. It seemed to be moving; he figured he must be dreaming. The day he'd read that book someone – who? - had pointed out all of the reasons why people were people-sized, and how people the size of dolls couldn't exist.

His thoughts were broken by a blow from above. He looked up, and saw an aeroplane hovering just above his head. Another blow hit him, and this one hurt far more. Something that was both a part of him and outside of him reacted, swatting the plane out of the sky like a fly. More blows rained in, and the other part of him took full control.

In the rain-soaked hills of Wales, Evangelion Unit 07 threw its head back and roared.

Three minutes later, it came to a halt, its energy depleted. Around it lay the wreckage of war; entire armoured divisions and artillery batteries wrecked in the titan's rampage. The remaining American soldiers had broken and ran, leaving a crying boy alone on the battlefield.

Edited after feedback.


	2. Chapter 2

**SEPTEMBER 2nd, 2010**

"_On today's show, we're joined by none other than Li Jie, the People's Evangelion Corps' star pilot. So, Li, what's it like to_-"

CLICK

"_The United Nations General Assembly once again failed to decide on any resolution regarding the current conflict in America-"_

CLICK

"_-Jane, I would have to say that it's a path only for -"_

CLICK

_-Tokyo-3 University, you can be among Earth's best and brightest. Join us, and work with NERV's Evangelion programme! With subsidised tuition and a guaranteed place in NERV when you graduate, there's no reason to -"_

CLICK, THUD

The television was turned off, the standby switch on the remote being pressed shortly before said remote was thrown onto the floor. Shinji Ikari sat staring into space for several seconds, like he always did when his father's company was mentioned; his teacher had long ago decided that pressing the subject was not worth his time, along with a lot of other things. He sighed, and looked up at the ceiling.

_All that seems to be on these days is stuff about Evangelions_, thought the child. He picked the remote up again, from where he'd thrown it, and turned the television on again.

"_-EAKING NEWS! The BBC World Service can confirm that a British force, including Evangelion Unit 07 has attacked the American defensive line along the Mississippi River at St. Louis! American sources say that they've broken the Ash Wednesday Truce, mere minutes before it was set to expire, but the British Government claims that they attacked the very second the truce expired. We go – live - to our attached reporter with the Royal Dragoon Guards. Luke, how're things over there?"_

Shinji watched as the picture on the screen changed from the newsroom to... well, something which looked a lot like hell probably looked like. The cameraman and reporter were standing behind a row of tanks, which were parked while their crews took an opportunity to relax. The square they were in was wrecked; an office block of some sort had been brought down in the fighting and was blocking one of the roads leading into the square. An aeroplane had crashed just in front of the line of tanks, a large, propeller-driven beast.

"_- right now, May, it seems that there's been some sort of problem with the Evangelion; the soldiers I've spoken to say they were supposed to be on the other side of the city by now. It's no secret that Unit 07 is one of the more temperamental Evangelions, and the recent modifications the Royal Navy has made to it cannot be- wait. Something's happening!"_

The cameraman turned to face one of the buildings on the far side of the square, just as a gigantic humanoid figure was thrown backwards through it. The Evangelion was squat, bulky and bristling with weapons; it managed to put a foot behind it to balance itself, crushing the plane Shinji had noticed earlier. Soldiers scattered, and the line of tanks pulled backwards. The cameraman ran alongside the reporter, then came to a stop.

"_Holy SHIT!"_ came the reporter's voice, _"Max, get a zoom on the other one!" _Striding through the ruins of the building came another Evangelion, this one sporting an American flag over its right chestplate; it was larger than the first Evangelion. _"Ladies and gentlemen, I have no words to explain what's going on here. We're seeing history made right here..."_

Shinji watched, wide-eyed, as the two titans squared off to fight.

**St. Louis**

"Mike, what's going on over there?" came the voice over the radio. "The entire advance is blocked! We need this city cleared by the end of the day!"

"I am slightly preoccupied!" snapped Michael. He fired a salvo of missiles from the launchers mounted on Unit 07's shoulders, grimacing as they bounced off of the other Evangelion's AT Field. A small sensation in his mind told him his ammunition reserves were empty, while another told him he was rapidly approaching his mental limit for this fight. He was already beginning to get annoyed with things; he'd snapped at the Colonel on the other side of the radio link. If this kept up, he'd go berserker again, and he wasn't sure the restraints would stop it this time...

The other Evangelion threw itself at him, and he pushed his own AT Field up to try to block it. There was a clash, and he physically felt the other Evangelion pushing its own Field against his. The spikes of lightning generated by the interaction of the two Fields arced away – he noticed one vapourising a building unfortunate enough to be in the way – and he could feel the other pilot's scream of rage as the American tried to push through his AT Field.

That was when something weird happened; somehow, the other Evangelion's AT Field became invisible to his own. The American tripped, not expecting the sudden change to the battlefield. Michael took the advantage offered, and punched the other Evangelion in the side of the head. The force of the punch threw it sideways, into another building. The other pilot reacted quickly, drawing a knife from its shoulder rack and stabbing Michael – no, he shook himself – stabbing _Unit 07_ in the stomach. The thick armour plating that was Unit 07's trademark meant that only the blade's tip actually managed to pierce his – no, _IT'S_ – skin, but that was all the excuse the other presence in his mind needed. He roared, picking the larger Evangelion up by the throat and shoving it into yet another building.

When Michael regained control, it was after the Evangelion's on-board batteries had exhausted themselves – or maybe the other presence had just drained them and continued fighting regardless, as had happened before. He slumped forwards in his seat, eyes closing as he drifted into unconsciousness.

He hoped that he hadn't killed the other pilot.


	3. Chapter 3 (Part 1 of 2)

**October 25th, 2010**

"- So could you please recount the events of September 3rd? No more lies, please, Lieutenant," said the judge sitting at the head of the courtroom. Michael stood up from the chair he'd been assigned, straightening his uniform.

"Your honour," he began, his childish voice at odds with the flatness of his tone, "I'd like to say again that I haven't lied once today. All the things I've said are as I saw them." This drew some dark looks from one section of the audience, but he forced himself to ignore them. It wouldn't be a very good idea to panic here, after all. "As I was getting to before I was interrupted, after getting out of Unit Seven's cockpit I made my way over to the other Evangelion..." His mind drifted as he retold what had happened.

**September 3rd, 2010**

Michael staggered as he fell out of the Evangelion's entry plug. He felt... weird, like he always did after he went berserker. He'd tried to contact the rest of the army when he work up, using the last vestiges of the backup power supplies to power the radios, but no-one seemed to be in range. He'd taken his survival kit from the cockpit, and tied his pistol holster around his waist. It wasn't the first time he'd had to survive for a while behind enemy lines. If he was even behind enemy lines, that is – he didn't see anyone when he switched on some of the Evangelion's sensors, except for the other Evangelion.

Parts of the fight started to flash into his mind. He remembered losing an arm at some point – his left arm still ached at the elbow, and he had to bring his hand up to his face to make sure it was still there. He looked back at Unit 07, and sure enough, its left arm was missing below the elbow. Wait, no – there it was.

Clutched in its right hand.

**October 25th, 2010**

"I object! There is no way he could have fought on after losing his arm, much less used it as a weapon! He's just a kid, for fuck's sake!" The cry came from the Army General sitting just behind Michael, and slightly to the right. He forced himself to keep staring forwards, ignoring the interruption. _If I turn around,_ he thought, _I won't be able to keep talking. They aren't actually there, they're just background. The only other person here is the judge._ He snapped back to focus as the judge spoke.

"-jection overruled, and I would mind your language, General Hanson! The Lieutenant has shown time and again that injuries sustained during the "Berserker" state do not have the same effect as they would do on an ordinary human, and we have video evidence that Unit Seven did keep fighting after losing its arm. Remember that we have already decided that during the "Berserker" state, the Evangelion's actions are not those of its pilot, so the Lieutenant's own prowess as a soldier does not apply. Please continue, Lieutenant."

Michael nodded, and carried on.

**September 3rd, 2010**

Vomit spattered onto the ground as Michael threw up. In front of him lay the enemy Evangelion, or rather, what was left of it. He'd nearly ripped its head off at some point, and it lay with the back of its head resting against one of its shoulders. The knife it had stabbed him with was stabbed into the very centre of its chest, where armour, skin and bone had been ripped back to reveal a cracked red sphere. Blood ran everywhere, and as he knelt down to vomit again he noticed he was standing – now kneeling it it.

Tears began joining the vomit, and he just knelt there for a while. It was never easy, seeing what the other presence had done, but this was by far the worst thing he'd seen. _Only so far_, an evil little voice in his mind said.

Laughing, he stood up and made his way to the building the wrecked Evangelion was slumped against; the only piece of intact cover in sight. The other presence had probably seen to that. He drew his pistol as a reflex when he stepped inside, the training he'd been doing whenever he wasn't actively fighting taking over. The part of his mind that could still think in tactical terms told him that the gigantic corpse outside may have concealed anyone inside the building.

He started making his way to the building's roof, where he could set up his recovery beacon. He was just coming onto the fifteenth – or maybe sixteenth? - floor when something hit him in the back, throwing him onto the floor. The sound of a gunshot echoed throughout the building, and he realised his pilot's suit had just saved his life.

Michael pushed himself up and into cover, two more gunshots pinging after him. He pulled his head down, simultaneously forcing himself to ignore the panic building inside his head, and waited. One. Two. Three. Fo- There! His attacker had moved, probably trying to get into a better position.

He brought his pistol up, searching for the enemy, lining up a shot – and that was when the part of his mind that wasn't running on autopilot took over, taking his finger off the trigger and reaching for the survival kit with his off hand. His attacker hadn't been moving to get a better shot.

Slumped up against the ruins of a wall, pistol held in a loose grip, was a girl about his age, wearing the helmet and form-fitting suit similar to what he wore. Behind her was the cockpit of the other Evangelion; the emergency ejection system had saved her life, but the escape rockets had propelled her to the other side of the building. He rushed over to the girl, holstering his pistol. She tried to raise her own, but dropped it as Michael reached her, taking a medical kit from the bag. He put himself through a breathing exercise as he checked the girl for injuries. _I'm going to panic soon_, the analytical part of his brain thought_, but before that I need to make sure she's alright and set the beacon. Panic later, focus now_. The girl was staring at him, still awake, so he spoke.

"Hi there," he said, "I'm going to get you patched up, okay?" He'd heard the line from some war movie or other – it seemed to be something medics told their patients. "I'm sorry about what happened out there," he continued as the girl kept staring at him. He checked her again – she was still breathing but her leg seemed to be broken (_And she's lucky she got away with just a broken leg_, thought the evil voice in his head, _Last time I ejected it was a whole lot worse_), so he set up a splint with a piece of wood he found. "I'm not going to hurt you," he said. _Maybe bringing up the fight is a bad idea. Let's talk about something else_, he thought. "My name's Michael – I've got a beacon in my bag, once I get it set up we can get you to a proper hospital."

The girl's eyes widened. "Don't!" she shouted, reaching for the bag, "They'll know where we are!" Something in her voice seemed... strange, but Michael tried to be reassuring anyway.

"I'm with the British – a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy – they're not going to hurt you. And I hope that if your guys get here first, you'll cover fo-"

"Mine aren't going to come! There's a... a... missile on the way, that was the backup plan! A nuke!"

That did it. Michael began to panic.

**October 25th, 2010**

"Are you telling me that you – an officer of the Royal Navy, sworn to uphold its honour and traditions - panicked on the field of battle?" came the question from behind (and slightly to the right). Another voice from behind – this one right behind him – saved him from turning around.

"And are _you_ telling _me,_ General, that if you heard the United States was willing to risk – was, in fact, risking - a nuclear war solely to kill _you_, that you wouldn't panic? After the known stresses of piloting an Evangelion, and after witnessing the aftermath of the world's first – and hopefully only - Evangelion-on-Evangelion battle? Soldiers panic, General, I'm sure you know this." The commanding officer of the Royal Navy's Evangelion Task Force, Admiral Oliver Jones, spoke for the first time since the court had convened. There was a pause as both sides stared at each other, then the General broke the silence.

"I withdraw my comment. Carry on, Lieutenant."

Michael took a breath, finishing a breathing exercise, and continued.

**September 3rd, 2010**

It took Michael thirty seconds to calm down, aided by his breathing exercises. It took him several more to start trying to think of a plan, and a few more to focus back on the present. "Why aren't we dead already, then?" he asked, finally.

"They might be waiting for something. I don't know!" said the girl.

The tactical side of his brain took over, cataloguing every possible option. Only one seemed to offer any opportunity of survival. "Can you walk?" he said, packing up the survival kit and slinging it across his back.

The girl shook her head. "I don't think I can walk very fast. Trying to outrun it's not going to work, anyway."

Michael pulled the girl up, supporting her as he started to walk back down the stairs. "We're not going to outrun it," he said. "If we can get to Unit Seven, we might be able to survive. The armour might be able to take the blast if it's not a direct hit."

The two of them staggered into the dawn outside the building, taking care not to look at the corpse propped up against it. Getting back into Unit 07 took a little effort, but the other presence had been considerate enough to leave the cockpit close to the ground. Michael turned the handle which operated the plug's manual insertion system, grunting with effort, while the girl sat in the pilot's seat and tried to find enough power to project an AT Field. The Evangelion's sensors came back online as the last armour panel clanged shut behind the cockpit. One signature was clearly visible on the radar screen, closing fast. One minute. "There's your missile," Michael said. "Any luck?"

"None," the girl replied. "We don't even have enough power to charge the LCL. Synchronisation doesn't take that much power, but we don't have enough to keep either of us synced for more than three seconds. We're probably going to lose sensors soon – it was a choice between that or the LCL."

Forty seconds.

"Are you sure you're speaking English?" Michael said, "I barely got half of that."

"The idiot's version is that we're probably going to die. Your name's Mike, right?" the girl said.

"Michael. I hate it when people call me "Mike". I'm not a child," Michael replied. Twenty seconds.

The girl took off her helmet, revealing a smiling, green-eyed face lined by brown hair. "My name's Rose," she said. Michael took off his helmet in return, waiting for the reaction. "Huh. I can honestly say I've never seen blue hair before," said Rose. Ten seconds. "Or red eyes." Nine.

Michael laughed, briefly losing count. The sensor screens went dark, whatever power Rose had scavenged running out.

Six.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

On-

Something roared.

Notes:

I dislike doing this (I prefer keeping notes like this in the review section), but there's a couple of things that may need clarification.

Firstly, these past three chapters (plus the next one or two) are serving as an extended prologue. We'll get to see some Angels at some point, don't worry.

Secondly, if you notice anything weird about the formatting etc, please tell me. This format doesn't quite like the format I'm using to write the story, and when I copy/paste across weird things happen.


	4. Chapter 4 (Part 2 of 2)

**October 25th, 2010**

"Luckily, they must have targeted Unit Four rather than Unit Seven; we were just outside the epicentre of the blast and the armour let us survive. After that, it was just a matter of waiting for one side or another to pick us up," Michael said.

"And nothing happened in the interim?" the judge asked.

"No, sir," Michael replied. "We only had the air in the plug to breathe, and neither of us wanted to get a lungful of fallout so going outside was out of the question. We just sat there for a while – didn't even talk."

"So what happened when General Hanson and his soldiers arrived?"

"The first we heard of their arrival was them knocking on the entry plug..."

**September 3rd, 2010**

The cockpit opened with a clang, a pair of rifle barrels shoved through the opening before Michael could react. A bright light blinded him for a moment. When he recovered, he raised his hands, motioning for Rose to do the same.

"Come on out," said a voice from outside the cockpit, so Michael jumped down through the hole, helped by a gloved hand.

A man in an Royal Army officer's uniform – a general - stood, surrounded by soldiers. Each had their rifle pointed at Michael. Behind the group, a pair of transport helicopters waited, rotor blades spinning. A gunship VTOL – one of the latest models, Michael noted – hovered above, its guns trained on Unit 07.

"Relax, sir," Michael begun, hands still raised. "We're on the same side. I'm Lieutenant -" A blow from behind cut him off. One of the soldiers who'd brought him out had hit him with his rifle.

"You're under arrest, Lieutenant. The charges are insubordination, misappropriation of Army resources, and interference with an Army operation resulting in the failure of said operation and the deaths of – who the hell is this?" said the officer, as Rose climbed down from the cockpit.

"The other Evangelion's pilot, sir," Michael said, forcing his mind to think tactically again. _I can't panic now_, he thought_, I need to think of a way out of this. Why is this even happening?_ The general smiled as he processed what Michael said. It wasn't a nice smile.

"Let's add "aiding an enemy combatant in a time of war" to your list of charges, shall we?" he said. _So that's it_, Michael thought, _this is a power play or something. _A sense of relief washed over him – he wouldn't have to deal with this alone. _The Admiral's not going to like this._

"I would like it on the record," Michael said, "That she's a prisoner of war and not an enemy combatant."

"Prisoners of war, Lieutenant, don't often carry pistols. At least, not in the Army. And it's "Sir", Lieutenant -"

A voice broke Michael from his memory.

**October 25th, 2010**

"I object! He's manipulating his testimony to make me sound unreasonable! I presented him with his charges and placed him under arrest, and that is _all_ I did!" General Hanson shouted. The judge glared at the general, and Michael relaxed a little. _Keep annoying the judge, General, and this should be over soon._

"Objection overruled! We have witness testimony from your own soldiers in the form of their helmet footage, and the Lieutenant's charge sheet clearly shows that "Aiding an enemy combatant in a time of war" was added _after_ the other charges. The Lieutenant's testimony so far has been far more accurate than your own, General," said the judge. "Continue, Lieutenant."

"That was pretty much all of it, sir. The General took me into custody, and I spent a lot of time in a cell," said Michael.

"Very well then. Now that all the testimony and evidence has been submitted, the court will adjourn to decide on a ruling. Unless anyone has any further objections?" said the judge, looking pointedly at General Hanson.

Michael was marched out of the courtroom by two military police officers, and into a deserted canteen set aside for his use. Another of the General's ploys, it seemed; he could have sworn that the accused was normally allowed to mix with people during breaks. Or maybe that was just on the TV.

He sat on one of the long tables, hands unconsciously folding in front of his face as he stared at the guards. They sat in silence for a few minutes, until a woman brought in some food. Michael looked at the plate, and sighed. _Yup. Spaghetti, boiled potatoes and gravy_, he thought,_ it's like someone went through my file and found all the foods I hate... and then mixed them together. Either that or the cooking staff here are really, really bad._ He pushed the plate to the guards, motioning them to eat. "I'm not hungry," he said. It was true; even though he hadn't eaten since waking up early enough to see the dawn (_not that the dawn today was even worth looking at_, he thought_, bloody clouds everywhere_), the concoction he'd been given had been enough to deal with his hunger.

Neither of the guards moved. _So it's going to be like that_, Michael thought, and settled in for a long wait. He was, in fact, just about to fall asleep when another guard walked into the room – slamming the doors open, of course – and declared that the judge was ready to give a verdict.

"All rise," said the MP acting as bailiff. Michael hadn't bothered sitting down; he got the feeling he was going to be on his feet for a while.

The judge finally took his seat, and began the proceedings. "After reviewing the evidence and testimony given to me by the various concerned parties, I am now ready to give my verdict," he said. "Firstly, on the charge of "Misappropriation of Army resources", the defence has made it clear that the resources concerned were properly signed for in accordance with Army regulations. Therefore, I am dismissing this charge. Secondly, on the charge of "Interference with an Army operation", I draw the court's attention to two facts. Firstly, the Navy's Evangelion Task Force was explicitly asked to assist in the St. Louis operation. Secondly, as mentioned before, Unit Seven's actions when berserker are not those of its pilot. On the basis of these two points, I am dismissing this charge. Thirdly, I am dismissing the charge of "Aiding an enemy combatant in a time of war" on the grounds that the person described as an enemy combatant was, in fact, a prisoner of war, and that even if she was a combatant it is a soldier's duty to save people – regardless of affiliation – in a situation like the one the Lieutenant found himself in."

Michael let out a sigh of relief. It seemed he'd won.

"However!" _Shit._ The judge was still talking. "The charge of "insubordination" still stands. The Lieutenant's remarks to Colonel Jones during the battle for St. Louis were unprofessional, and disrespectful of the chain of command. Therefore, I find the defendant guilty of this charge." Even though he hadn't turned around, Michael just knew the General was grinning. He felt his heart sink. "This military court gives me the power to determine whatever sentence I see fit for whatever offence I find the defendant guilty of," continued the judge. _Here it comes_, thought Michael. "It is traditional to ask the prosecution what punishment should be inflicted in these cases. I will not do so." Michael looked up in surprise. _What the hell is he up to?_ he thought. "I will instead remand the defendant into the custody of his superior officer, to be punished as said superior sees fit. Admiral Jones, I believe you are the Lieutenant's commanding officer?"

"Yes, sir," said the Admiral.

"Then the defendant is yours to deal with. This court is dismissed."

That, it seemed, was that.

It was several hours later by the time Michael and the Admiral managed to get back to friendly territory; a Navy frigate moored at a riverside. The city's famous archway sat before the bank opposite, somehow still intact. The Admiral ushered Michael into the ship's wardroom, a plate proclaiming that this ship was the HMS _Lancaster_. A row of battle honour showed the ship's history; Michael noted that he'd fought alongside the _Lancaster_ several times – Blackpool, the St. Lawrence Gulf, the Bahamas campaign, New Orleans...

"She's been with the Task Force since day one," said the Admiral. "The Red Rose was my first command, back in the nineties. I even took her through Second Impact. Strange to be aboard her again."

"I never noticed," replied Michael. His stomach rumbled, reminding him he hadn't eaten yet today. "I hate to ask, sir, but could you please send for some food?"

"What," Admiral Jones said, "They didn't feed you? I'm pretty sure that's actually illegal, you should have said something."

"They gave me food, although calling it such would be a stretch even for General Hanson," Michael said.

The Admiral laughed. "I'll send for something. You want to eat now, or do you want to hear the news?"

Michael mulled it over. "News first. I've been out of the loop for way too long," he said.

"Well," the Admiral began, "It turns out St. Louis was the last straw. The Americans are suing for peace."

"That's... pretty big news. How come they didn't mention that in court?" Michael asked.

"Hanson kept you separate from everyone else, and your guards were his men. Anyway, that's not all of it. Apparently, the UN's pushing from their end too. There's some debate over whether or not we get to keep anything, but even if they let us we'd probably just let the people involved form their own countries or something. We're stretched way too thin to have another Empire."

"Are they ever going to tell us why they attacked? Aside from the normal excuses, anyway," Michael asked.

"I doubt it. Some conspiracy nuts are saying that they knew about Unit Seven before they invaded and _that_'s why, but it doesn't hold up. _We_ didn't know about Unit Seven until you brought down half the invasion force, and the CIA's a bunch of amateurs compared to MI6. It's probably going to be debated until the end of time or possibly until people stop caring. But the real fun is some of the consequences of this whole "peace" thing. As part of the deal, we're getting every last bit of the United States' Evangelion programme. That's not as good as it sounds; they managed to get Unit Three out of the country and into Israel's custody before they nuked St Louis – and let me tell you that's been like dropping an incendiary on an oil depot – but we get their data, equipment, and most importantly, their personnel."

"Tell me this isn't going where I think it's going, sir."

"It is. We were running tests with Rose in Unit Seven while you were in custody." The Admiral noticed the look on Michael's face, and continued quickly. "Before you say anything, the techs are saying she's not quite able to use Unit Seven as well as you; I couldn't understand a word they said but it seems she'll be in training for solo ops for a while."

"You say "solo ops" like there's an alternative..."

"You're quick on the uptake today, Mike. The techs said there's a way to solve your berserker problem, so they've rigged up a dual-pilot system. The idea is, you do the actual piloting while she keeps you from going berserker, watches your back with the on-board weapons and also operates the nuclear reactor we're giving you."

"Wait, _what_? Aren't those... kind of dangerous?" Michael shuddered at the thought of carrying around a nuclear bomb strapped to his back.

"Not as much as people think. Most of our submarines carry them, and they don't have the advantage of the AT Field to protect them from incoming fire. Besides, the design we're giving you is heavily automated, and Rose is actually pretty smart; the techs say she's pretty much mastered the simulations. Besides, with the reactor you'll be able to operate nearly indefinitely, and we'll be able to start independent Evangelion operations. Combined with the Rapid Reaction System, and we can put an invasion force anywhere on the planet within twenty-four hours which is nearly impossible to defeat. With some recent advances in drone technology, and maybe some of those new three-d fabricators NERV has been hiding, and we can take over any country in three days. At least, that's how I sold it to Her Majesty; I just don't want to see you going berserker again. I still remember picking you up after the first time."

Michael smiled. "It's not like I want to go berserker, sir. It just... happens," he said. The conversation stalled for a while, both lost in thought. A rumble from Michael's torso broke the silence.

"I could use that food around about now, sir," Michael said.


	5. Chapter 5 - The End of the Beginning

**July 22nd, 2012**

Rei Ayanami sat on the bench in the cargo hold of a transport VTOL, hands folded in her lap. To an outside observer, she seemed cold, oblivious to all that was happening around her. In actual fact, she'd noted every detail in the hold when she'd sat down. Nothing had changed since then, except for the view outside the window opposite her, so that was what she paid attention to.

She was also getting rather bored, a feeling she was intimately familiar with (although she'd never admit it, especially not with the Commander in earshot. The Commander was _always_ in earshot), and hoped they'd land soon. They'd been flying over desert for the past three hours, sixteen minutes and twenty-eight seconds. If she'd worked it out right, they should arrive in three minutes and thirty seconds.

As if on cue, Doctor Akagi walked down the steps leading to the cockpit. _Approximately twelve hours since her last cigarette. She is going to be less cooperative than usual_, Rei noted to herself.

"Good morning, Rei," said the doctor, "Ready to go?"

"Yes," said Rei. _She knows I have been ready since we boarded_, she thought. She'd noticed other people had a habit of confirming information they should already know, even people as intelligent as Doctor Akagi. That was one of the things that made interacting with her so-called "peers" so boring.

Rei, on the other hand, remembered everything and saw everything. The only other person who even came close to her in terms of memory was the Commander.

The VTOL finally landed, at an airbase on the coast of Israel. She noted the beach about two kilometres eastwards, the position of the sun indicating it was about 10.30 in the morning, the rows of military aircraft – British Typhoons, French Rafaels, Russian Su-47s, Mi-24s and a Ka-52 – the layout of the airbase and a million other things. Her mind worked out the temperature outside (40 degrees Celsius), an approximation of how much the base and its contents (minus certain items which would skew the total, which came to 5 billion euros), and started to work out the number of sand grains in the airbase before she cancelled that thought to focus more attention on her mission.

She'd walked down the ramp of the VTOL on autopilot, leaving Doctor Akagi to talk to the crew who had brought Unit 00 over, and was standing before a group of people - six, she counted - about her age (if she had been one to complain, she would have thought something along the lines of "great, not again" at this point), clad in variations of the same suit she wore.

Evangelion pilots.

Two – one boy, one girl - wore the black colours and emblems of the Russian Army Evangelion Squadron, a roaring bear on its hind legs. Another pair – again, one male and one female - wore the green-highlighted suits of the Chinese People's Evangelion Corps, with the stylised crossed swords and dragon emblem emblazoned on their chest. The final pair (another male/female pair – she wondered if it was a natural pattern, then decided it was probably a conscious choice on the part of the various nations involved in order to see which gender was more suited to piloting) wore heavier armoured suits, with helmets, in the camouflage of the British Evangelion Task Force. Their emblem – much smaller than the other emblems, and in dull shades – was a sword behind a shield.

The last pilot was Asuka Langley Sorhyu. They'd met once before.

The redhead was arguing with one of the British pilots (over matters of seniority, it seemed), while the other stood watching the rest of the group. The rest of the pilots were mixing with one another, although she couldn't speak Russian or Chinese. _Note. Learn Russian and Chinese upon return_, she thought. The silent British pilot – the boy - noticed her, and waved her over.

"You're the First Child, then?" came the voice from beneath the helmet, in English. She could speak English, luckily. She nodded. "Captain Ayanami. Royal Navy's Evangelion Task Force. I'll be coordinating the operation, or rather Rose here" - he gestured to the other British pilot - "will. How many hours of combat training have you had with your Eva?"

She held up a finger to stall the question. Something had to be clarified. "Did you say "Captain Ayanami?"" she asked.

"Michael Ayanami's my name," replied the pilot. "Oh yeah, what's yours? It's been kind of hectic, I forgot to ask."

"Rei Ayanami," she said. The Captain didn't seem very surprised , although he did take a half-step backwards – he must have noticed her hair and eye colour. If he was related to her, then he would have similar features.

"I figured we were related," he said, confirming her theory, "blue hair and red eyes aren't very common, even these days." He reached up to his helmet, twisted it to break the seal, and removed it. A scarred face with red eyes looked at her, framed by short, sky-blue hair. "Anyway, on to business. We can sort out the family tree later. How many hours combat training?" asked Captain Ayanami, tucking his helmet under his arm. _Their suits must have some climate control,_ Rei thought, _he doesn't appear to be reacting to the heat._

"One hour and thirty-three minutes," she replied. The Captain sighed.

"Just typical," he said. "Aside from Li, me and Rose, no-one here has combat experience. Me and Rose are the only ones with anti-Evangelion combat experience, and we don't know how to replicate half of what happened in that fight. We're actively trying not to replicate the other half. The training situation's just as bad, although you've got the worst record out of anyone here."

She felt a need to defend herself at that. "I can maintain a synchronisation score of forty-four percent," she said. "A full five points above the average of thirty-nine percent."

"Sync scores don't matter," replied the Captain, massaging his temple with his free hand. "Sorry. I shouldn't be taking this out on you." For a moment, the Captain looked... scared?

"RIGHT," he shouted, breaking the moment and getting the attention of the other pilots – Rei noticed that Li Jie kept talking in Chinese, as did one of the Russians, probably translating - "Now that we're all here, it's time to actually reveal the mission. As I am sure you are aware, the state of Israel is undergoing a general collapse. Political analysts attached to the UN say that the state itself is in no danger of a complete failure. That said, last week Evangelion Unit Zero-Three was reported missing, along with its pilot. Me and Rose were shipped out here in case the worst happened, and two days ago it did. An unidentified group, comparable to the Israeli military in terms of size and equipment, took several cities spread across the entire Middle East, including Jerusalem, Baghdad and Tehran. When the Israelis launched a full-scale counter-attack on Jerusalem, their forces were confronted by Unit Three, and retreated with heavy casualties. Yesterday, the UN received a combined appeal from pretty much every state in the Middle East – including some that have grudges with each other going back to the nineteen hundreds – asking for help. That's why you're all here. We need to set an example to the world that the use of Evangelions in national warfare will no longer be tolerated, and to enforce the Vatican Treaty signed two years ago. That's the politics. The actual information you need to know is this – we have a rogue Evangelion along with a sizeable supporting army. We have no idea where it is – it could still be in Jerusalem but recon says they can't see it – we don't know what its capabilities are, and we don't know what their ultimate objective is. In short, things are pretty much as they always are on the battlefield." That drew a laugh from Li as he finished translating – Rei decided it was probably a joke common to soldiers. Captain Katsuragi back in Tokyo-3 had often made similar remarks.

"Now, Pilot Officer Sorhyu brought up the rather thorny question of command earlier," continued the Captain. The other pilots looked concerned at this. "Technically speaking, we'll be reporting to the commander of the UN task force. Practically speaking, that's going to be difficult. She's got to manage a multinational coalition which has about thirty different nations providing troops, including a mixed British and French contingent. Off the record, that was a bit of a mistake on the part of the politicians, but Her Majesty and the French President want to push the whole "union" thing so General Cellier has to put up with it. I almost pity the poor woman. Anyway, since the only officers with any experience of commanding Evangelions in the field are both half a planet away in either direction, the good General has delegated sorting out command issues to us. If I'm entirely honest I don't think she likes me very much." Again, Rei noticed, the use of humour seemed to defuse the tension generated by the topic under discussion.

"I have a proposal," Captain Ayanami continued, "But I don't want you to go along with it just because I'm the one who's been talking all this time. With the exception of Pilot Officer Sorhyu, who has complained enough for one lifetime, you're all free to voice your complaints." He paused for a moment – Rei couldn't decide if he was preparing to continue, like several of her classmates did when giving presentations to the class, or if he was just letting the translators catch up. "My idea is pretty simple. We divide into national groups – Russians, Chinese, and a final group made up of Unit Seven and the NERVlings." One of the Russians – the girl - muttered something to the other, and both of them laughed. "Okay," said the Captain, smiling, "repeat that for those who don't speak Russian, please."

"Tatyana said "Unit Seven and the NERVlings sounds like a band"," said the male Russian – the translator. Captain Ayanami laughed, as did the other pilots.

"Maybe once this is over," he said. "But I'm pretty sure I'd be a terrible musician. Anyway, since Unit Seven is equipped with a reactor we can act as a mobile charging station, and with our enhanced comms arrays we're the best suited to act as coordinator. We'll take the centre, with the other two groups two minutes' travel time to our left and right as we advance. If something comes up and we need to split up further, whoever's normally in command of the national groups can take over. We've been ordered to advance before the UN Coalition, so that's not too likely to happen, but it's always safer to be prepared."

"What about language?" asked the English-speaking Russian. "Between us we speak five different languages. How are we supposed to coordinate?"

"Actually, it's more like seven different languages. I speak Latin and Rose speaks Spanish. Regardless, I was assuming we'd use English, and whoever doesn't speak English can get a translation from someone. There are translators back at command, I'll see about getting a few assigned into our comms," replied the Captain.

"It almost sounds like you've put some thought into this," said Asuka. "But my Unit Two isn't like any of these other Evas; it's far faster and more agile. Shackling it to your lumbering hulk is a waste."

"Which is why you won't be shackled," said Rose. The Captain glanced at her for a second (_reprimand or surprise?_ thought Rei) and nodded. "What we're doing is basically a textbook deployment. The forces in the centre are supposed to act as a rapid reaction force to assist either flank, and vice versa. That's a role your Unit Two is well suited for; Unit Seven has the artillery to act as long-range support, Unit Zero can act as a reserve, but neither are fast enough to reach the flanks if urgent help is needed."

Captain Ayanami picked up the conversation. "If it looks like I've planned this in advance, it's because I have," he said, "and so has the Eva Task Force as a whole. On top of that, we don't need to decide where to go strategy-wise – we're tied to the coalition's main battlegroup. Any other ideas, or comments?"

There was silence for a few seconds, after the translators had finished.

"We have about two hours before the battlegroup starts to form up. Catch some sleep, a shower, food – whatever. Just report to your Evas at thirteen-fifteen hours. At thirteen-thirty, Evangelion season is officially open."

* * *

Michael climbed into the forward pilot's chair of Unit 07, linking the wires relaying his nerve impulses to the massive war machine into the slots riddling his body. Even at minimal power, and all of the restraints at maximum, he could feel the wind whistling through the cracks in the Eva's armour, the weight of the armour against his skin, the bulk of the reactor on his back...

Rose sat in the chair behind him, facing back towards the reactor. Unlike his seat, which had nothing between it and the walls of the entry plug, hers was lined with computer monitors. As she began the synchronisation procedure, his mind began to merge with hers; he knew what the various monitors said without having to turn around, although their minds were still separate enough that he didn't know what the graphs and numbers actually meant.

LCL began flooding into the plug. He popped the seal on his helmet, letting the fluid into his lungs. Apparently, it helped with synchronisation.

"Synchronisation complete," said Rose, her voice echoing in his mind a second before she spoke. "Pilot-to-Evangelion synchronisation holding at forty percent. Pilot-to-pilot synchronisation at thirty-six percent and rising. Reactor status nominal. All systems are green. Releasing final safety locks in three... two... one." The scaffolding holding Unit 07 in place slid away, and Michael was able to move again _for the first time in months_ – no, Unit 07 was free to move. _Keep a distinction between pilot and Eva,_ echoed Admiral Jones' voice in his head. He hadn't felt the other presence try to take control since they'd enacted the dual-pilot system, but it still twisted his thoughts. "You okay, Michael?" asked Rose from behind him. "One of the computers just gave me an Ego Border warning, whatever that is, and then we just lost a point of PE-sync."

"I'm fine," he replied. "Commence operation. Unit Zero and Two, form up on me. Units Five and Six, take the left. Eight and Nine, you're on the right." A flurry of acknowledgements came back over the radio, so Michael took a step. He felt the Evangelion's massive boot sink into the sand a little, tonnes of sand being trapped inside the armour plating. _That's going to be a pain_, he thought. "Bring up the tactical display," he said. A window opened on his helmet's visor, a blue two-dimensional map showing the positions of the battlegroup. Behind the line of Evangelions was the British/French division, a solid block of tanks and infantry carriers. Michael separated the icons to see who had drawn the short straw from the Army, and laughed when the tab showing the divisional commander's name showed up. _General Hanson has fallen a long way since St. Louis_, he noted. A Russian artillery unit was acting in support, with anti-aircraft cover provided by Israeli mobile SAM launchers. Two and a half divisions, in total, with eight more acting independently in other areas. He watched, still walking towards the rally point, as the other Evangelions slid into formation. "Rabbit Lead to all Rabbit elements, confirm readiness," he said.

"Rabbit Four to Rabbit Lead. Flight two is ready," came the reply from the Russians.

"Rabbit Six to Rabbit Lead. Rabbit Seven's having some problems but it won't delay us much," said the Chinese. That was to be expected – Unit Nine (designated Rabbit Seven) had only been declared combat-worthy two months ago.

"Rabbit Lead to Longbow," he reported to the Coalition's commander, "Be advised that we're running a few minutes behind schedule." He switched radio channels back to the pilots' channel. "Rabbit elements, continue confirmation."

"Rabbit Two to Lead. Ready." said Rei from Unit 00. He hadn't had chance to speak with her before the operation. Hopefully he'd be able to catch her before she disappeared back off to Japan.

"Rabbit Three to Rabbit Lead. I'm at one hundred percent. Why are we "Rabbit", anyway?" That would be Asuka. He decided he had time to answer this one, and grinned as he remembered why.

"Partially because it's ironic – rabbits aren't known for fighting - but mostly it's kind of traditional. Anyone ever see the film "Battle of Britain?"" replied Michael. A chorus of negative replies came back, although he could feel Rose smiling behind him. She knew where this was going. "Well, it's about these fighter pilots during... well, the Battle of Britain," he continued, "and they're outnumbered ten-to-one, with their backs up against the wall. It's pretty much post-war propaganda. One of the RAF fighter squadrons is called "Rabbit" squadron, and that became my callsign back in the British Isles Campaign. One pilot, inexperienced going against an entire army and winning. My superior's a massive fan of war movies – I must have seen that damned film a hundred times."

"You have got to be kidding me!" shouted Asuka. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! You're not even Air Force, you... you..." the radio link dissolved into a mess of cursing in German, Japanese and English, and Michael could have sworn he saw the seat's speakers glow red out of the corner of his eye. He switched off his microphone, and laughed. He hadn't expected such a reaction.

"We're coming up on rally point Alpha," said Rose from behind him, when things had died down. "Three klicks out from target."

"Got it," he said. "Alright, Rabbits. We're about to enter a warzone. Your mobile chargers will detach soon, so keep an eye on your batteries. Keep your fields up, stay vigilant, and radio me if you need advice. If you spot Unit Three, radio it in immediately. Don't try to take it out on your own. We have the advantage in numbers, supply, weaponry and experience, but they might have some sort of plan." Acknowledgements came through the radio, so he reported in to General Cellier. "Rabbit is ready to engage. Give the order, ma'am."

The General's voice came back, her French accent nearly making it impossible to make out the words. "Order is given," she said, "Rabbit may advance."

"Order is given, Rabbits," Michael said, switching back to the pilots' channel. "Advance and engage."

* * *

Unit 00 stalked through the streets of Jerusalem, a rifle held at the ready. The buildings surrounding her were low, but the ridges and hills the city was built on could hide the enemy Evangelion, not to mention the network of tunnels the Coalition engineers had reported. It almost rivalled the work being done in Tokyo-3, although Jerusalem wasn't built on top of a massive cavern.

Unit 07 was walking slightly in front of her, occasionally pausing to loose a salvo of missiles or obliterate a building with the rotary cannons mounted at various points on its body. Once, it had stopped for a minute, deploying the massive siege-grade artillery cannon (_forty five point seven centimetre BAE "Trebuchet" double-barrelled siege cannon, _Rei thought. It was occasionally annoying how precise she had to be.) and aiming it at a point in the distance. A few seconds (_fifteen point six three seconds_) later, it had retracted the gun, whatever emergency it had been brought out for dealt with.

Unit 02 had been sent on ahead, to the other side of the city. Asuka had been complaining about how little she'd been able to do in the attack, and Captain Ayanami (_it is going to take a while to get used to calling someone else "Ayanami"_, Rei thought) had sent her off when she began to annoy his co-pilot. Unit 02 was equipped to draw power from the city's grid, so she hadn't returned for a while.

The other Evangelions had reported no contact so far, occasionally returning to recharge. Rei was almost beginning to get bored.

That was, of course, when Unit Three showed up.

* * *

"Contact left!" came a voice over the radio, breaking Michael from his thoughts. Rei had shouted (_it still sounds quiet_, he noted) at the same time as Rose, a red mark appearing on the tactical display.

He spun, drawing the Siege Cannon into anti-Evangelion mode, and came face-to-face with the enemy Evangelion.

It didn't look right.

Some sort of blue substance leaked out from the joints in its armour, and it had ripped its mouth-guard off, revealing a row of teeth covered in more of the blue... stuff. Michael staggered backwards as it roared, barely avoiding its first blow. A part of his mind noted a voice calling the other members of Rabbit to help as he triggered the rotary cannons. Hundreds of rounds sparked off of Unit 03's AT Field every second, the blows doing nothing to slow it down. Rei joined in with her rifle, her own shots doing little more. A warning flashed in front of one of his pairs of eyes, and he waved it away. He brought his arm up to block the next blow, feeling the enemy's AT Field become invisible, waited a second for its head to line up just a bit more...

Then he triggered the Siege Cannon.

The explosion kicked up a massive dust cloud, and flung Unit 07 back down the street. He stood up, reloading the cannon, and waited for the smoke to clear. He motioned for Rei to fall back a little, in case he needed to fire again.

Headless, Unit 03 jumped out of the dust cloud and pushed Michael down into a row of houses. He fired the explosive bolts, ejecting the cannon, and punched at the enemy. It caught his fist, and some of the blue stuff started spreading to his hand. He screamed in pain as he felt it burn, then another warning flashed across his – yes, HIS, not the damned Eva's – eyes. The reactor was failing, the impact knocking some important component loose, and the failsafes had cut in. He was down to battery power.

Things were just getting better and better.

* * *

Rei circled the fight as the two Evas grappled, waiting for an opportunity. She had quickly figured out that they weren't just fighting a rogue Evangelion any more. _This could be a problem_, she thought, _If this is revealed as an Angel attack so soon, the Commander's plans could be in danger. It would be advantageous to allow the Angel to eliminate Captain Ayanami and his co-pilot in order to facilitate a cover-up._ She grappled with the idea for a while, as Unit 07's arm was infected by the Angel. The Captain's – _her brother's_ – screams echoed throughout the entire radio channel, and her mind fought itself over what to do. _Inaction would lead to his demise_, thought one half of her mind _Not to mention his co-pilot's!_

_That would assist the Commander, _thought the other half.

_He is family! _said the first half.

_We are prepared to kill our cousins to further the Commander's aims. Why not our brother too? We both know his presence is not in line with the Commander's plans. He will need to be eliminated at some point. That point may as well be now_, thought the second.

_That is untrue_, argued the first. _His presence may be unaccounted for, but so were many other factors which have since been co-opted, and probably many more that we do not know of. The Commander has been aware of Michael's existence for far longer than we have. He will have altered his plans._

_That is correct, but we cannot be sure that this precise situation is not his way of dealing with the Captain,_ said the second.

_If the Commander wanted Captain Michael Ayanami dead here, he would have told us about the Angel and ordered us not to intervene. He has not done so. Therefore, the Angel's appearance here is not part of his plan. Therefore, we should intervene in order to kill the Angel as swiftly as possible, as per our standing directives,_ reasoned a third part of her mind, the part she retreated to when she needed to make a decision. The other two parts of her mind fell silent, accepting her judgement. Three seconds had passed according to the battery timer, and Unit 07 was still active.

Her rifle had run out of ammunition after the initial engagement, so she drew her knife instead, ramming it into Unit 03's back. The Angel-infected Evangelion span around, releasing Unit 07, and swung an arm at her. She ducked underneath it, and stabbed her knife into the centre of the enemy's chest. For a moment, she thought she'd actually hit the core as Unit 03 slumped, before it drew back a leg and kicked her down the ridge.

That was all the reprieve Unit 07 needed. She saw it stand up, its infected left arm no longer lined with blue but still limp. Its right arm reached up to its back, drew a large knife – not a Progressive Knife, she noticed, but an actual blade of metal – and snapped into a guard position. Unit 03 turned around, closing the distance with the wounded Evangelion. It reached one freakishly long arm out, and Unit 07 cut it off. The Angel screamed – not a roar, but a scream of pain – and withdrew the bleeding stump, lashing out with the other arm and aiming at Unit 07's limp arm.

Unit 02 slammed into Unit 03 from above, slamming a pair of knives through its neck. Rei took the opportunity, ran towards the enemy Evangelion and thrust her own knife into its core.

An explosion washed over her, and she blacked out.

* * *

**2015**

"_Coalition Officials reported today that the rogue Evangelion, Unit Three, which was involved in a series of brutal terrorist attacks across the Middle East, was destroyed yesterday in an operation involving every single other operational Evangelion. The Royal Navy's Unit Seven and NERV's Unit Zero are reported to have been damaged in the fighting, and sources inside the Coalition have since reported that their pilots are still alive, although they are being treated for their wounds. General Cellier, the officer in charge of the Coalition, gave a short press conference on the operation praising the pilots involved for their courage and resolve in what she called "A tough battle"._

_Next on the show: We have an exclusive interview with Firefly actor Nathan Fillion, as -"_

Shinji Ikari turned the television off, having learned all that he could from the report. There had been some shaky video footage, apparently recovered from a phone, but it hadn't really been worth his time.

A mass of paper surrounded his seat, along with several bowls of instant food. Normally, he'd have avoided that sort of food like a plague, but he hadn't had time to cook recently. Several textbooks lay open at his feet, sticky notes plastered to their pages. Sketches, equations and graphs filled the loose paper around him, the result of five years' hard work. _I need more data_, he thought. _Estimations derived from shitty video camera footage and hearsay aren't precise enough. _He looked at one piece of paper he hadn't written on yet, a letter that had just come in the post. He laughed as he read it. _So, Father, you want me to come running home after all these years. Very well. I know exactly what you want from me, and I'll be happy to be your guinea pig... so long as you let me at what I want. And then, when I am finished, you WILL be proud of me._

* * *

END OF PROLOGUE

Note: Let me know what you think of the formatting. Some of the earlier chapters don't seem to flow right when I read them; they'll probably get an edit at some point.


	6. Chapter 6

"_There is a state of emergency in effect throughout the Tokyo-3 area. For this reason, your call cannot be connected at this time. We are very sorry and recommend you proceed to a shelter immediately."_

"So that's why no-one's around", said Shinji. "I wonder if that's why she's late, too..." He clutched a pair of letters and a photograph in his right hand, his other holding a rather heavy bag containing some very important equipment.

A normal boy would be slightly worried in this sort of situation. Since Second Impact, however, there were very few "normal" people left. Shinji wasn't particularly worried about the state of emergency, just so long as he didn't have to talk to people.

He looked around the deserted street, scanning for signs leading to a shelter. It seemed, however, that the designers of this city had figured that people would somehow know where the shelters were by telepathy, as such signs were nowhere to be found. He did, however, see a girl about his age, with blue hair and red eyes, standing across the street from him.

His natural concern for other people momentarily overriding his shyness, he opened his mouth to call out to her. The sound of gunfire distracted him before he could say anything, as he turned to see just what exactly was going on.

A pair of attack VTOLs backed away from a side street, rocket pods and cannons blazing. Shinji was not exactly a student of military tactics, but he was reasonably sure that they didn't normally do that, unless...

A smile spread across his face. It seemed he'd be getting the data he needed a lot earlier than he thought. He blinked, remembering the girl from earlier, and looked around for her.

She had disappeared. Odd.

He put the girl from his mind (that was rather difficult – he was a teenager, after all) and looked back at the street the VTOLs were still firing down. A lance of energy speared one through the cockpit, cooking off its ammo racks. A ball of fire engulfed the craft, and the other moved to evade.

Something strode around the corner, chasing the remaining VTOL.

It wasn't, as Shinji was expecting, an Evangelion. It was vaguely Evangelion-shaped, but was unmistakably alien. Bony ridges protruded from its shoulders and chest, an avian-like skull on its head. Its arms ended in claws, one of which was raised to the other VTOL as he watched. Another energy lance speared out, clipping one of its engines and spinning it into a building. The creature ignored the wreckage, and took a step down the street towards him, its gigantic foot stopping barely in front of him.

He heard the sound of a car pulling up next to him, and a woman shouted "Get in!"

An instinct drilled into every post-Second Impact child forced him to comply. He climbed into the car, and the woman hit the accelerator.

* * *

The escape from the creature had passed in silence, the woman – Misato, the one from the photograph – too busy driving to talk. After escaping from the city – the plan was to circle around and come back in through an area that wasn't monster-infested – she'd pulled the car up on a ridgeline and fished out a pair of binoculars from the car's glovebox. Shinji took note of the rather high-caliber pistol that had been beneath the binoculars, and resolved not to annoy his companion.

While she was watching the monster – an Angel, apparently, although Shinji really couldn't see the resemblance – Shinji took a jury-rigged probe from his bag. It took several moments to get it to work, but when it did...

_Sound waves probably won't work_, he thought, lost in his work, _it seems to be able to resize its AT Field at will – I won't be able to get a good resonance working. A laser, then? Same problem, but it should be more responsive... It could work, but it won't be pretty. _He put the probe away, and pulled out a meter. _The Ultrasound probe had no effect, although considering the distance I'm not surprised. The laser may have had an effect, but that was probably one of those damned VTOLs firing at it. I wish they'd stop for a moment so I could check..._

As if on cue, the squadron of VTOLs clustered around the Angel pulled away.

"What are they... N-TWO MINE!" screamed Misato, throwing herself over Shinji. A pressure wave washed over them a second later. Shinji couldn't breathe, pushed against Misato's chest (the teenager part of him began to celebrate, but the rest of him shouted it down), and he was pretty sure his meter was broken and he didn't know where his bag was and they just used a UN-controlled strategic weapon on the Angel and he was pressed up against a woman's chest and -

Misato got up, letting Shinji breathe again. He began hyperventilating, the all-too-familiar panic rising. He reached into his pocket, dropping the wrecked probe, and took out a notebook. Forcing himself to ignore the rest of the world, he wrote his measurements in the notebook, along with a few preliminary calculations. After a while, he realised he was muttering. "It doesn't exist, it doesn't exist, it doesn't exist...". The world beyond the notebook faded back into view as he regained control.

Misato was staring at him, as people normally did after his panic attacks, but unlike the others she just shrugged, and turned to the wreck of her car. Shinji jumped as she shouted, "No no no no no! I only had thirty payments left on this one! My insurance doesn't cover N-Two mines or Angels!"

For the first time since arriving in Tokyo-3, Shinji laughed.

* * *

It took them a while to get the car back on its wheels, and even longer to find some batteries that hadn't been damaged in the blast, but they eventually managed to get back on the road.

"So," said Misato, breaking the silence, "You're Shinji Ikari?"

"Yes, ma'am," replied Shinji. "You must be Captain Katsuragi?"

"That's me. Don't call me "Ma'am", it makes me sound old."

"Sorry, miss."

"Just call me Misato. I'm only..." here Misato's face took on the look of someone long accustomed to lying, "twenty-six."

"Yes, miss," said Shinji. Misato sighed, and let an evil grin spread across her face.

"I'll warn you now, Shinji Ikari; don't mess with me. That "quiet and obedient" routine won't work on me. Someone far better at it than you has tried it and failed." That had been a very interesting day, she recalled.

"Sorry, miss." A change of tactics seemed to be in order.

"What's on your mind, Shinji?" she asked. The boy looked at her for the first time since they'd met.

"I'm worried about meeting my father," he said. "It's been... three, four years since I last saw him, and we've never been close. Now, he calls me here? What does he want from me?"

Misato didn't actually have an answer to that question. The Commander never told anyone anything unless he absolutely had to. She'd have to misdirect him a little. "You sound a lot like me when I was your age," she said. "I used to think my dad didn't care for me, too." That drew something approaching a smile. "Besides, you two have a bit in common. I saw that sciencey stuff you were doing earlier, and your dad's supposed to be really into science too." That one had the opposite effect.

"I know he is," Shinji said, quietly. He sighed, and continued. "Please don't watch me when I'm working." Silence pervaded for a few minutes after that. Strangely enough, it was Shinji who broke it this time. "Are you sure this isn't stealing?" he said, pointing to the row of batteries on the car's back seat.

"I'm a NERV officer and it was an emergency. It's totally legitimate," Misato replied, rather nervously. A large tunnel loomed ahead, giving her an escape. "We're here," she said, driving the car onto one of the massive elevators. It started automatically, a reminder that the MAGI supercomputers were watching her. She sat back, and waited.

They dropped out of the tunnel into a massive underground cave. The word "cave" didn't really do it justice; it was more like someone had taken a large area of countryside and built a gigantic roof over it, placing a black pyramid with an inverse-pyramid reflecting pool right in the centre. Shinji's jaw dropped in amazement.

"A real Geofront!" he said in amazement. "I've only heard about the concept, I never thought someone would actually build one! It's even got the solar collector and mirrors!"

"This," Misato said, "Is NERV. We're humanity's last, best hope. This is what your father has built."

* * *

It took them another hour to find wherever it was they were supposed to be. Shinji had never been to NERV before – obviously – and Misato kept getting lost. They had, after some time, joined up with some scientist woman, but before Shinji could question her she'd struck up a conversation with Misato. "You're late," said the newcomer as their elevator travelled even further into the bowels of the earth.

"They keep changing the layout around!" replied Misato. Again, Shinji thought she was lying.

"You got lost at Junction Thirty Seven dash C, again, didn't you? They haven't changed that place since it was built back in oh-five..." The scientist (or at least, Shinji assumed she was a scientist – she was wearing a lab coat, after all) turned to look at Shinji. "So this is the Third Child, huh?" she said.

"Yup, Risti," cut in Misato before Shinji could reply. "It seems he's a budding scientist; you two should swap notes or whatever it is scientists do."

"Is that so," said the woman – Ritsuko, probably – giving him that look that all people did when he talked about his work. "Maybe when this is over." _Not likely_, Shinji thought. _You're just like all the others; you won't believe me until I prove it and then you'll be scared of me. _Outwardly, he just smiled nervously.

The elevator stopped, the doors opening onto a dark room. Shinji closed his eyes, waiting for the tell-tale click of the lights coming on or for an explanation.

There was a THUNK. Shinji opened his eyes. 

"So this is why you called me back, Father?" he asked.

"That would be correct," said a voice from a platform above the gigantic head. "It's been a while, Shinji." The platform's lights came on, revealing the form of his Father staring down at him. He pushed aside the rest of the world, and stared back.

"Three, four years. I take it you want me to pilot this Evangelion – Unit One? and kill that "Angel" who's making a mess up there," Shinji replied. "And, for whatever reason, you can't use Unit Zero. I heard there was an accident a week ago; I hope the pilot's okay." _Stay on the offensive_, he thought, _and we might just get through this without another panic attack._

"She is alive," said his Father. "But she is too injured to pilot. Unless you're thinking of refusing?" _And there's his attack. He knows I won't let him use someone hurt that badly._

"No fear there, Father," he said. A sigh of relief came from his left – Misato? "There will, however, be a price."

"Go on."

"I want access to all the data you have on the AT Field and the Evangelions, and I want permission to perform experiments on the Evangelions you have at your disposal. I'll also need a place to stay, especially if I'm going to be a long-term pilot, and a generous salary. Not to mention, an apology." Internally, Shinji was on the verge of collapse. He'd never done anything like this before – the longest talk he'd had with another human had been a rather... unfortunate... meeting with one of his schoolteachers. To bargain with a man some people said was the most powerful man in Japan...

"No," said his Father. _What?_ "Fuyutsuki. Wake up Rei." _This is insane! He's not even negotiating! Does he really think he can just brush me off like that?_

"Shinji," came the voice from his left, breaking through his thoughts. "Why are you growling?"

The doors at the side of the hangar opened, and a stretcher was wheeled in. Shinji stared at the girl – the exact same girl from earlier, who'd disappeared – and felt his fist clench as she pushed herself up, trembling in pain.

He was about to speak out when an explosion rocked the facility. Shinji was running before his brain even caught up with the explosion, catching the girl – she had to be "Rei" – in his arms and carrying her away from the rubble falling from the roof. He stared into her eye – the other concealed behind a medical patch – as he forced himself to think. _Only one thing to do, _came the conclusion.

"Misato," he said, his voice cold. "Get her to some proper doctors. Take my bag with you. Make sure she lives, or you won't." He handed Rei over to the Captain before she could object, and turned to the scientist woman. "Get this thing ready for launch. I'm going out there whether he" - Shinji pointed to his Father - "likes it or not. I'll consider the negotiations postponed for now." Without another word, he climbed up to the Evangelion's cockpit and jumped in.

* * *

Several minutes later, Shinji was regretting his actions. _They are going to kill me when I get out of this thing_, he thought. Well, his thoughts were actually closer to _Shit shit shit shit shit SHIT shit shit!_ than anything coherent, but various concepts passed through his mind. So did a picture of Misato's high-caliber pistol, and the damage such a weapon could do without killing someone. At least, not immediately.

Voices filtered in from outside. "LCL lines check clear. Filling plug now." The strange orange fluid began to fill the cockpit – he'd seen it before, and people on the internet had come up with many theories as to what it was for and what the name meant. They all agreed that it was breathable, however, so Shinji forced himself to relax – he'd been doing that a lot recently – and breathed it in when it reached his mouth. For once, the internet was right about something, although they'd left out the part where it tasted exactly like human blood.

"Pilot synchronisation holding at... fifty percent!" came another voice, accompanied by a weird light show on the walls of the cockpit.

"We might actually pull this off," said the scientist – her name was Ritsuko Akagi, he'd learned – and Shinji felt slightly wronged. "LCL charging," she continued, and the walls changed to a view of the hanger bay. _So that's how they do it,_ he realised. _The LCL must polarise with a small electric current running through it, and there must be a link to the external cameras..._

He was snapped back to reality by Doctor Akagi's voice. "All systems show nominal. We're ready for launch on your order, Commander."

"Launch Unit One," said his Father. _Wait, what do they mean by – _a sudden acceleration pushed him down into his seat, and within seconds he was back on the surface.

The Angel stood facing him.

_Oh shit._


	7. Chapter 7

"All things considered, that went quite well," said Fuyutsuki.

"The Angel is dead. That is all that matters," replied Gendo. There were no titles in this office, the one place on the entire planet where he could speak freely. Even then... "No doubt the Council will be expecting a report." 

"The old men expect a report when you take a shit. I'd have thought you'd have learned to live with it by now." 

"It matters not. All is proceeding in accordance with the Scenario."

"You'd say that even if you were on fire, though."

"That is because it would be true. Nothing happens here outside of my control." Gendo picked up a file. Fuyutsuki was aware most were actually full of blank sheets of paper, kept around to intimidate people unfortunate enough to be called into a meeting with the Commander. "We need to keep the UN out of this. We can't afford another Jerusalem," Gendo said after a while. "The Council messed up there and we're still cleaning up after them."

"There was one surprise from that, though. Who'd have thought the British pilot was Rei's brother?" Fuyutsuki said. The response from Gendo when that had happened had been worthy of a recording, Illuminati be damned.

"Three years ago, even I wouldn't have guessed it. They did a remarkably good job keeping him out of the public spotlight."

"The kid was in combat most of the time up until twenty-ten, and when someone did get a shot of him outside Unit Seven he was in that damned armour. I'm beginning to suspect he's never taken it off."

"Regardless, he won't be a problem. The British aren't going to risk their only Evangelion, not with everything they have to deal with," said Gendo.

"They've done stupider things in the past. I distinctly recall you saying something similar back in late oh-nine..." Gendo snorted derisively at Fuyutsuki's comment. "Regardless, they can't do anything right now." There was a break in the conversation, before Fuyutsuki spoke again. "Have you visited Rei yet?"

"I'll go see her today."

"And Shinji?"

"We both know the answer to that question," was the curt reply.

* * *

"_Right arm reading as broken! Armour plating on left shoulder down to six percent integrity!"_

"_What's he doing out there?"_

"_WILL YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP FOR FIVE SECONDS AND LET ME KILL THIS BASTARD?"_

* * *

Shinji woke up.

He took account of his surroundings, as he'd been teaching himself to do since that fateful day the news had shown the live images from St. Louis. _Hospital room. No other people. I appear to be uninjured. My stuff isn't here. Unfamiliar ceiling. I am currently clothed in a hospital gown. Single window – large enough to get out of. Single door – check if locked. This must be a short-term recovery ward – no facilities in the room to accommodate long-term patients. _He lay back, instincts satisfied, and began reviewing his observations. The panic began to overwhelm him as he realised his bag wasn't in the room, but forced himself to re-run several mental equations to calm himself down. The method worked... about ninety percent of the time.

A nurse walked into the room, and Shinji sat up again. "You're awake!" he said.

"Where are my things? What happened... out there?" Shinji asked, taking on the stutter he nearly always did when talking to another person.

"Well," the nurse said, "It seems you won. They don't tell us anything, but I get the impression we wouldn't be here if you hadn't. As for your effects... I heard some NERV officer wanted to talk to you about that." _Great_, Shinji thought, _Misato got my equipment broken. I really hope she didn't get that girl killed; I'm not sure I could follow through on my end of that..._ Another panic attack threatened as he remembered what he'd said in the hanger bay. _What the hell was I thinking!? Why did I threaten her like that?_

"Um... are you alright, Mister Ikari?" asked the nurse.

"What? Oh, I'm fine," Shinji waved him off, "just... post-battle stress. Where's this officer?"

* * *

"Hey Shinji!" called Misato. Shinji's legs felt like lead as he walked over to her.

"Hi," he said, timidly. "The nurse said you wanted to speak to me?"

"Oh yeah! I got your stuff in the car. None of it seemed broken, but you're probably going to want to check it anyway," she said. "Oh, and Rei survived. It looks like you're not going to have to kill me," she continued, laughing.

_Why is she laughing?_ Shinji thought. "That's... good," he said. He steeled himself, and continued, "Look... back there, I'm sorry I threatened to kill you."

Misato laughed again. "Don't worry about it," she said, "You went pretty cold back there. Better than snapping, I guess. You freaked me out, though – only other person I've seen get like that is the Commander. I guess there's more similarity in you two than I thought."

_She thinks I'm like HIM?_ Shinji thought, horrified. Outwardly, he smiled. "I guess so," he said.

There were a few seconds of silence, before Misato spoke. "Look, we need to see about your accommodation," she said, "I've finished for the day, so I'll help you move."

"Thanks," said Shinji, smiling for real this time.

* * *

"What? Alone?! You can't have a kid like him living on his own!" Misato shouted at the NERV officer – he seemed faceless, generic, like a lot of the people around here. _Maybe they have vats churning them out_, Shinji thought. He wasn't paying attention to the conversation – he was fine with living alone, and it wasn't like - "Look, you know what, I'll take him in. I've got a few spare rooms. No, don't worry about the paperwork, I'll speak to the Commander or Doctor Akagi about it." The flunky walked off, apparently satisfied with this.

It took Shinji several seconds to process the new development, the very concept forcing him into a new set of equations to calm himself down. "Umm," he said, finally, "Miss Misato... what?"

"For the last time, it's just Misato. And like I said, I'm not going to just let you live on your own. Besides, the place they had you in was tiny, you'd never have enough room for all your equipment." That seemed to be all the discussion that decision was allocated, because Misato walked off.

Shinji sighed, and followed her. _Maybe this won't be so bad_, he thought.

* * *

He nearly had a heart attack when he saw the mess in the living room of the apartment. They'd picked up some food on the way; it was all instant but he was hoping that wasn't the warning sign it seemed like. _Food with the nutritional value of cardboard, an apartment that looks like it's a war zone and probably harbours several new strains of disease, more beer than is consumed by North America in three years, and yes that's a penguin._

"What are you waiting for," called Misato, "Come in!"

Shinji took a nervous step into the apartment. "I'm home," he said.

"Welcome home," replied Misato.

* * *

_The Angel stood opposite Shinji – or Unit 01? It was hard to tell the difference. It was stationary – was it confused? Shinji checked his surroundings. No weapons, no VTOLs or tanks around, very little cover unless he was willing to sacrifice a building or two..._

_He ducked behind an office building, hoping it had been evacuated. Or at least, he tried to. His mind sent the signal for his legs to move, but they felt weird, unresponsive. He fell forwards, onto his face. He tried to stand up, but again the response was slow._

_The Angel walked over to him – walked, as if it wasn't even worried he was a threat – and picked him up by the head. It tightened its grip, and pain flowed in like his own head was being crushed. That seemed unfair – he couldn't control this damned thing but he could feel its pain?_

_The anger he'd felt back in the hanger flooded back, and he punched the Angel with his right arm. For the first time, the Evangelion responded to his command, and the Angel staggered back a little, dropping him. Perfect. He settled into a fighting stance – something mirrored unconsciously from a TV show or movie or something – and lashed out again._

_This time, the Angel caught his arm, and pulled, loosing some sort of energy beam that scraped his left shoulder at the same time. Voices had been on the edge of his hearing since he'd launched, but now they flooded into focus._

"_Right arm reading as broken! Armour plating on left shoulder down to six percent integrity!" said one._

"_What's he doing out there?" said another._

"_WILL YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP FOR FIVE SECONDS AND LET ME KILL THIS BASTARD?" he shouted, pulling back with his right arm and punching with the left. Surprisingly, the radio fell silent, and the newly-awakened part of Shinji got on with its job. He pulled again with his right arm, the pain just a small sensation on the edge of his mind, and slammed the Angel into a building. That always seemed to work. Except... this time, it didn't._

_The Angel let go of his arm, and reached out again. Shinji tried to kick at it, but an AT Field formed in front of his leg. He fell forwards, into the Angel's grip. A lance of pain stabbed through his head, and he realised the Angel was stabbing him with its energy lance thing and it hurt and he was going to pass out and IT NEEDED TO DIE NOW..._

* * *

Shinji walked into the classroom he'd been assigned to. Misato had told him, the day after he'd moved in, that he'd be starting at the local school as soon as possible. He'd told her he was well ahead of any curriculum offered by a high school, especially in the field of science, but it was apparently more to do with socialisation than grades. He'd cursed the invisible psychiatrist who'd written that recommendation – silently, of course – but it was final. They had delayed his start to synchronise with the start of a new term, however – a delay of about a week – and Rei was supposed to be going back on that day too. Not that he'd spoken to the girl yet; he had no idea how one was actually supposed to go about doing so.

"Hello!" said a brown-haired, pigtailed girl who'd walked up to him. "You must be the new transfer student!"

"Yes," he said. Then he remembered he was supposed to be socialising. "My name's Shinji Ikari, it's nice to meet you."

"I'm Hikari Horaki, Class Representative. I have to say it's kind of weird you're moving in just as everyone else seems to be moving out..." Even he could tell that she was fishing for information. _Even a high school student could connect the dots. New Evangelion shows up, they have teenage pilots, and oh look here's a new teenage student._

"I'm the pilot of Unit One," he said. Better to get it over with now than have it come out at some inopportune moment. _Although if she starts bugging me for schoolwork in the middle of an Evangelion deployment, I will... do something._ He'd censored his mind before he could mentally threaten another person.

"Oh! That's... okay. Are you sure?" asked Hikari. _I knew high school kids were stupid, but seriously?_ Shinji thought.

"I took an energy spike through its skull about a week ago. I'm pretty sure," he said, a little harshly by his standards.

"I meant... it's just kind of a shock," said Hikari. "Like learning one of your classmates is a famous writer or scientist or something." There was a pause as the two collected their thoughts. "Look, just take a seat. I'll make sure the teacher knows."

"Thank you," Shinji said. He scanned the classroom for... ah, there she was. _Still in bandages? Is she actually okay to be here? _The last vestiges of the anger from a week ago welled up, but he suppressed them as he walked over to the empty seats around her. _In front, behind, or beside?_ he debated. He decided on the seat next to her, and sat down.

"Shinji Ikari," she said, turning to stare at him. Her voice was very soft, he noticed. "You threatened a superior officer's life if she did not ensure my survival. Why?"

The question caused another near panic attack, but if he was good at one thing it was keeping those down. He thought for a few moments, trying to think of a reason that didn't sound trite. "I... I guess I was angry, and worried. She was the only person I could trust to do the job, and I needed to motivate her." That was, after all, the truth. He'd made the decision, his mind thinking with perfect clarity for the first time in a social situation. That answer didn't seem to satisfy the girl, however.

"Why were you angry and worried?" she asked. Before he could think of an answer, the bell rang his salvation and the teacher walked in.

* * *

A student arrived as the formalities were dealt with, and Shinji couldn't help overhearing that the student – a kid called Toji – wasn't exactly happy. That was going to make the next part of the day a little awkward.

The teacher called Shinji up to the front to introduce himself, and he actually managed to reach the board without collapsing in panic like he had the first time he'd done something like this. He wrote his name on the board, handwriting messed up by his unfamiliarity with the digital marker thingy the school was using. As he finished, he took a deep breath and turned back to the class.

"Hello," he began, cursing himself for being unable to think of anything better to say, "I'm Shinji Ikari. I'll be studying here for the foreseeable future, and..." he gulped, and continued, "I'm the pilot of Evangelion Unit One."

The classroom erupted into chaos.

* * *

A fist swung into his eye as he left the school building. He'd actually expected this, but made no motion to prevent it. This was, after all, something he deserved for once. He fell back onto the concrete, mentally remarking on how familiar this sensation was becoming.

"That's for my sister, you bastard," came the voice of the fist's owner. Toji.

Another voice came from above, accompanied by the face of Toji's friend. "Look, I'm really sorry about this," he said, "but you kind of got his sister really hurt. Even if you weren't the pilot he'd probably have punched you..."

"It doesn't matter," said Shinji. "I... I'm sorry about what happened." That seemed to make Toji angrier, as Shinji was lifted off his feet and thrown onto the ground. Shinji braced himself for another blow, but it never came.

"Pilot Ikari," came Rei's voice from the same doorway he'd been ambushed at. Shinji forced himself to his feet – if Toji started to take any of his anger out on Rei...

The other two boys were walking off, pretending nothing had happened. "What is it, Ayanami?" he asked, brushing himself down. The blows had hurt, but nothing compared to the feeling of a white-hot lance of energy spearing through his eye.

"You did not answer my question," said the girl. Shinji laughed. _Of course that's why she decided to follow me_, he thought. Rei looked at him curiously, and asked "Why are you laughing?"

That was when the sirens started howling.


	8. Chapter 8 (Part 1 of 2)

"_Unit One ready for launch. Is the order given, Commander?"_

"_Order is given. Launch Unit One."_

Shinji roused at that, snapping back to the mission at hand. The G-forces which were already becoming familiar pushed him down into his seat, and Misato's voice came over the radio. _"Alright Shinji, here's how we're going to do it. The Angel's going to be one street to your right as you come in, so take the assault cannon, neutralise its AT Field and annihilate it."_

"Got it," he said. The lift snapped to a halt, and the massive door opened. The assault cannon – a rotary, battleship-caliber weapon – was in a slot by his legs. He pulled it out, and turned to face the Angel.

This one was different from the last one; rather than a humanoid shape it seemed more like some sort of cuttlefish or squid. Somehow, it was floating – _Note to self: get recordings of this fight_, Shinji thought – and it paused as it saw him. Just as the last one had. Shinji took the advantage, extended his AT Field as far as he could and emptied the assault cannon's hopper into its face.

"_What are you doing, Shinji? Short, controlled bursts! You'll obscure the target in the smoke!" _came Misato's voice. _It's not like that matters,_ Shinji thought, _it's probably dead alread- _a pair of whip... tentacle... things flew out from the dust cloud and cut the assault cannon in half before he could finish the thought. _Ah crap._

"_-ending you up a rifle. Building two-thirteen. Take it!"_ That wouldn't be much help. Building 213 was on the other side of the Angel, but it was also the only one in range of his power cable. _Dammit_, he thought. The Angel's whips slashed out again, and Shinji barely dodged... but lost the power cable at the same time. _If I can get behind it, maybe – _The Angel attacked again. This time, the whips snared around his arm, and it threw him out of the city into the mountains. _This is really not going – oh what the FUCK!_ The Evangelion's computer had noted two human life signs just beside one of his hands. He zoomed in one of the cameras, and cursed. _It would be those two, wouldn't it..._

* * *

**A few minutes previously:**

Kensuke Aida was getting bored. This wasn't his natural state of being; normally he could find interest in nearly everything. But being cooped up in a small bunker and being told to stay put while he could be filming the epic battle going on above... "Hey, Toji", he said, getting the attention of his friend.

"Yeah, Ken?" Toji said, drawing his gaze from the Class Representative chatting with her friends on the other side of the bunker. "What is it?"

"Come with me to the bathroom," said Kensuke. "I gotta ask you something."

Toji considered it. "Yeah, sure, why the heck not," he said, then called out to Hikari. "Hey, Class Rep! We gotta go pee!" The brunette did not look as amused by this as he hoped, and glared at him.

"Yeah, whatever!" she called back.

"Damn it, Ken, this better be worth it," Toji snapped.

* * *

"So I think with your help I could get the lock on the bunker open!" finished Kensuke, glasses flashing.

"Are you kidding me? You want to go out there?!" replied Toji.

"Look, this is the chance of a lifetime! I could sell this footage for thousands! Besides, it's probably dead already," Kensuke said. Toji sighed, then nodded. "That's the spirit!" said Kensuke.

* * *

"Wow, he really doesn't have any idea what he's doing!" shouted Kensuke as the two watched the fight, a video camera pressed to the nerd's eye. "He's letting it keep its distance, where it has the advantage, but isn't pulling back far enough to get out of its range! Did they even train him before sticking him in that thing?"

"We should probably get back inside," said Toji. Truth be told, he was actually feeling pretty bad about hitting the kid earlier. _If they didn't even train him before sending him in, no wonder Mari got hurt..._

That was when the Evangelion, limbs flailing, came flying through the air towards them. There was a shudder as it landed, but when he opened his eyes Toji found he was still alive. The massive bulk of the gigantic war machine shielded from the sun, and he could almost hear Ken's jaw hit the ground as he realised how close he was to one of the most powerful weapons in humanity's arsenal. There was a hiss, and a panel on the Evangelion's back slid out, followed by a white tube. A ladder came down from it, and the tube opened with an audible pop.

"Get in!" called a voice down from the tube, so Toji and Kensuke rushed up the ladder. After all, it was better to be inside the giant war machine rather than crushed by it.

* * *

"What the hell is this stuff?" said the other student from earlier – the one with the glasses. Shinji ignored him. "Oh... crap, my camera!" _Shut up please_, he thought, closing the entry plug up and re-synchronising. His mind went cold again, and he started assessing the situation. _Two minutes' battery power left. I think I have a knife, but I can't get close, unless..._

"_Shinji!"_ called Misato over the radio. _"Fall back to position three! Just get out of there!"_ That wouldn't work. He couldn't get to the fallback point without taking more damage along the way, and he wasn't sure how much damage the Evangelion could take before it went berserker. _Let's not have that happen again_, he decided, and charged. He was vaguely aware of the students talking next to him, telling him to follow orders, so he shouted, "SHUT. UP!" and kept going. The Angel thrust its whip things at him again, spearing him through the chest, but he kept going. _Thirty seconds left_.

He drew his knife, passing back into the city. _Twenty seconds._

He reached the Angel, and thrust the knife into its core. He realised he was screaming. _Ten seconds._ The core cracked, but the Angel was still alive. _Five._ Still alive. _Four. Three. Two-_ the Angel went still, freezing in place. The whips fell out of Shinji's chest, and he slumped forwards.

It took him a few minutes to realise he was crying.

* * *

Michael's eyes bolted open as a scream came from outside his door. Old instincts made him reach for his pistol before memory asserted itself. _Not again_, he thought. He stood up from his bed, and headed for the door. He paused for a second, then bolted his left arm back on just in case his instincts were right. The industrial, piston-like replacement's weight still felt off after three years, but he'd at least learned to use it properly now.

He walked out the door to the sound of a television turning on, and switching to an all-night news channel. He sighed, partially relief and partially worry. This had been happening far more often ever since about a week ago, after she'd heard about Tokyo-3. He proceeded down the hall, unloading his pistol, and stepped into their apartment's living room. The lights outside illuminated the unnamed Pacific island they were on, and highlighted Rose's face as he walked in. She was sitting on the couch, running through the breathing exercise he'd taught her after the first time this had happened five years ago. He let her finish before speaking. "Again?" he said, simply.

"Yeah," she said. "Same as always." He walked over to the couch, sat down beside her and just held her for a few minutes with his real arm. A mix of emotions flooded through him, as it had been for a while now. Fear. Affection. Desire. Shame. He pushed them out, and just tried to make her feel safe. It was, after all, his fault she suffered from these nightmares.

"There's something I'd like to know," she asked after a while, sitting back up as she spoke. "Why is it you never get these?"

"I don't dream," he said. "Not since Wales. I suppose I'm lucky in that respect, despite everything else."

"But you have to remember it sometimes, surely?" she pressed on.

"Yeah, I do." he paused for a moment. Her words had brought up the memories she was talking about. "But... how do I put this? I've been dealing with that sort of thing for as long as I can remember. And ever since Jerusalem, not much has been able to scare me." Rose's face fell as he brought up their last battle.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have -" she began, but he cut her off.

"Don't worry about it. Never worry about it," he said, pulling her back into an embrace. This time, it was for as much his benefit as it was hers; he could still vividly remember the feeling of having his arm – both his and the Evangelion's – slowly infected by the Angel. Not to mention what he'd done when the infection kept coming after the Angel died...

He was glad he'd managed to spare her from that. It made him feel a little better about St. Louis. It was still a mystery to him why she'd forgiven him for that.

Beside him, he heard Rose's breathing fall into a slow, regular pattern. He rested his head on top of hers, allowing himself to revel in the contact, and closed his eyes. The television still blared, unheeded, in front of them as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"_Today's headlines at three from the BBC: Another Angel attacked Tokyo Three, but was promptly defeated by NERV's Unit One two days ago. Rumours about as to the identity of the pilot, with some sources claiming he identified himself openly in a classroom. More on this story as it arises."_

"_In our other top story, the final satellite in the Orbital Defence Network is scheduled to launch tomorrow from a base in the Pacific. Confidential sources say that the launch ceremony, which is to be attended by both the British Queen and the French President, as well as many other world leaders, will be guarded by the Royal Navy's Unit Seven. Full coverage of the ceremony will be provided live by the BBC."_

"_In other news, the long-running TV series "Firefly" has been renewed for yet another season. Fans of the series claim that it has, in fact, been running for too long..."_

* * *

Shinji woke up in the cell that had been his home for the past night. They'd been thoughtful enough to give him a TV, but he'd kept it off. Aside from the occasional clips of Evangelion deployments on the news, he'd never been interested much in television. He stretched out his arms, working out the kinks that came with sleeping against a wall, and sighed. _It wouldn't even be so bad if they'd given me some of my equipment_, he thought. Then again, all of his stuff was at Misato's apartment.

He grimaced as he recalled what had happened after the battle two days ago.

* * *

"What the hell, Shinji?" Misato had shouted just after some security goons had led Toji and Kensuke away. "In battle, you follow my orders! It's that simple!"

Shinji knew he should point out that he couldn't have followed her orders, but just like always he couldn't say it. "I'm sorry," he said lamely. "I'm not sure what it really matters, though," he muttered under his breath. Unfortunately, Misato heard him.

"What was that?" she said, her voice low and level.

"It's just... I killed the Angel," he said, desperately searching for a way out, "What does it matter how I did it? Besides, what do you care? I'll keep killing the Angels, and that's all that-" Misato slapped him, and walked out before he could react. _That's it_, he thought, _time to get some fresh air._

* * *

Shinji had reached the end of the road.

Literally, not metaphorically.

He'd been walking the entire night, trying to get a good vantage point on the Angel's corpse. A probe was held weakly in his hand; he hadn't had the time or money to get food. And now, before him lay the wreckage of the one major road out of the city. _I must have taken it out coming down that hill_, he realised; the road was between the hill and where he'd killed the Angel. Someone – probably NERV – had moved its body into a structure since then, as he couldn't see it. He tried the probe anyway, looking for any sort of after-image of the battle. There was some, a few weird readings that he'd found only came up after two active AT Fields collided, but nothing he could work with. Not for the first time that night, he wished he had access to his equipment, or maybe even NERV's stuff. Misato had told him to ask Doctor Akagi for it, but he hadn't yet worked up the courage to speak to her.

He had long noticed NERV's security goons following him. They hadn't stopped him, so he'd ignored them. Now, however, he'd done everything he'd wanted to. "Alright," he said, apparently to thin air, "I'm ready to go back." A set of floodlights lit up the road, and Shinji was suddenly surrounded by the black-suited men.

* * *

"_-and now we go live to our reporter on the scene in the A-F Union's Pacific launch base. Jake, how're things looking down there?"_

"_Well, May, I'd have to say it feels pretty positive here. We're a few minutes away from the Inauguration Ceremony, and the entire viewing platform seems packed. I've never seen so many government officials in one place! Just behind me is the rocket that will carry the last of the Longbow weapon platforms into orbit, to join the Camelot command station and the other thirty-five satellites that have been launched in the past year. And just behind that is Unit Seven; it's been a while since I've seen her. There were reports after Jerusalem three years ago that the pilot had been put out of action, but they seem to have recovered. Wait – just now, the Queen's taking the stage for the speech."_

* * *

Michael closed the window showing the live news feed with a wave of his hand. They'd been deployed early in the morning, and he hadn't had much to occupy himself with. Behind him, Rose ran yet another scan of the perimeter. "Anything?" he asked.

"Nothing. Quieter than Rio," Rose replied. Strictly speaking, they both knew that wasn't true; there was a Navy task force near the island, not to mention several Air Force Typhoons on patrol. More to the point, Rio was several metres underwater. Michael sighed, and switched on the feed to the speech.

* * *

"_-one must be grateful to the brave men and women who sacrificed so much, including their lives, to fight the American menace. Five years ago today, a historic treaty was signed which returned peace to this ravaged world after ten years of devastating conflict. Today, we bear witness to the force which shall sustain that peace. For the first time in history, an impartial, multinational organisation will have a striking force independent of any nationality. History teaches us that such a thing is required for world peace. We have learned the lessons of Hitler and President Morris, and will not make that mistake again. It is time to put aside petty national differences in order to ensure our children do not have to go through the same things we have. America once claimed to be a "beacon on a hill". We do not claim the same thing. Our past is not spotless. That is why we have done this; not as a way of securing some military advantage but as an act of atonement. We, who have sacrificed so much in the name of peace, sacrifice a portion of our wealth and prosperity to allow peace to continue. One hopes the rest of the world will follow our example."_

* * *

"Wow, she really went at it," said Rose as the applause died away.

"What are you talking about?" asked Michael.

"'One hopes the rest of the world will follow our example'? She's talking to the Russians and Chinese. Not to mention NERV, and the American States." Seeing Michael still didn't understand, she continued. "She's trying to guilt-trip them. Making the UN into an actual world government has been her goal since the wars began, and everyone else has been dragging their feet on it. Rather understandably, too; the UN's track record isn't exactly spotless either."

"So that's why we're just handing the entire network over to them," Michael said. "I thought it was part of the Vatican treaty or something."

"It is," Rose replied. "But we put it there. An orbital weapon capable of destroying an Evangelion with a direct hit? Not to mention Camelot Station? No-one would have let us put it up there if they weren't sure they could stop us from using it."

"Not that they can," said Michael. "We built them. I'd bet real money – if I had any – that we've got a way to override them. You never sell a weapon you can't defeat."

"And as usual, your cynicism shines like a diamond," Rose said, and both of them laughed. It was an old argument they had. "I've taken a look over the control system for the satellites; it seems pretty foolproof to me."

"I'm sure it does," Michael said, "And I'm also pretty sure that the signal telling the satellite it can fire, while not easily duplicated, can also be sent from some bunker back home. Sure, the UN'd know as soon as it was sent, but what are they going to do about it?"

"The signal has to be authenticated by Camelot before the system can fire, though," argued Rose.

"And who's crewing Camelot at the moment? The only military astronauts on the entire planet, who just so happen to be former British and French astronauts we gave to the UN. Oh, in a few years' time there might be a few different nationalities up there, but I have no doubt the majority will be British or French for the foreseeable future," countered Michael.

"You know," Rose said, and Michael could feel her exasperation, "just once I'd like you to take something at face value. I mean, it's starting to rub off on me now!" Michael grimaced at that; they'd had lots of problems with long-term pilot-to-pilot synchronisation. Sometimes, he could barely tell which mind was which. Rose fell silent as she felt his change in mood. _That's another problem_, he considered. _It's impossible to keep secrets from her sometimes. And vice versa._

He re-opened the television window, to the sound of the countdown. _Has it really been that long? We missed the President's speech..._

* * *

"_Ten."_

"_Nine."_

"_Eight."_

"_Seven."_

"_Six."_

"_Five."_

"_Four."_

"_Three."_

"_Two."_

"_One."_

"_LIFTOFF!"_

* * *

Shinji sat up as someone entered his cell. The light from outside blinded him for a moment, before his eyes adjusted and he saw who had chosen to visit. "Rei?" he asked in surprise, blinking. "What are you doing here?" He looked closer. She seemed to have recovered from her injuries. _Maybe she's here to tell me they don't want me to pilot anymore_, he thought. He felt... ambivalent about that.

"I wish to ask you some questions," said the girl. _Ah crap,_ Shinji realised. _I never did answer her question earlier. I really hope she's not annoyed._

"It's not like I'm doing anything else at the moment," he said, a rare piece of sarcasm which went unheeded by the blue-haired figure before him. She nodded.

"Firstly, could you please finish answering my questions from earlier?" she said.

Shinji drew in a breath, and brought up all his reserves of courage and patience. Not that he had much of the former. "Why I acted like that back when I got here? I suppose I just got really angry with Father." Rei stared at him, so he continued. "He called me here after ten years of showing how little he cared about me. Then, he asks me to get into a giant cybernetic war machine known for psychologically damaging its pilots. Fine. I can deal with that. But to brush me off when I dare ask for something in return? And to drag you out, when you couldn't even walk? To play with both our lives like he did? **That** angered me." He sighed, and kept talking. She wouldn't be satisfied with anything less than a full explanation, Misato had told him before the second Angel attack. "When I get angry... everything sort of snaps into focus. All the things holding me back normally just disappear. Like Miss Misato said, I get a lot like Father. Unfortunately, all those things holding me back also stop me from doing things like threatening someone's life, or throwing them out of a window like the first time I got angry, so I've learned to recognise the signs over the years. Back then was... a special case."

Rei seemed satisfied by this. "Secondly, what is the nature of your scientific enquiry?" she said.

"I can't tell you all of it," he said, as the enthusiasm started to rise up. "Too many unknowns, and I don't have enough data to even begin to confirm or deny my theories. But... the base of it is that I noticed AT Fields interact with light." Rei raised an eyebrow quizzically. This would take some explaining. "I saw a broadcast of the St. Louis battle as it happened. Right up until the nuke hit. That set off some spark in my mind, and I gathered up every last scrap of information I could on the AT Field. I found enough to indicate that they're somehow frequency-based, although they don't use a medium known to modern science. There's some sort of information carried in the AT Field; that much is obvious from the various pilot interviews and so on – why would there be a minimum synchronisation requirement for manifesting an AT Field otherwise? More to the point, why else would it be necessary to have the pilot synchronise so much with the Evangelion? It's a proven fact that synchronisation can be limited below the threshold where the pilots begin to feel the Evangelion's pain, and it's incredibly rare for two of them to meet in combat where control fidelity actually matters. So, after a while, I got to thinking. What if we could decode that information? Perhaps more importantly, what if we could find out whatever medium the AT Field works in and replicate it mechanically? It'd be so useful! Leaving aside making the Evangelions – and thus the necessity of using child soldiers like us – obsolete, it can be used to shield against radiation, making space travel far easier, it can be used to support an object in the air or on water..." he trailed off, the burst of energy spent. He looked up at Rei. "Does that answer your question?" he asked.

"I do not believe your endeavours will be successful," she said. _That's what they all say,_ he thought, _but I __**will**__ show them._ "But... " she continued, her voice even quieter and softer than normal, "I hope they are." _That's... not what they normally say_, he thought, looking up in surprise.

Rei was already gone.

* * *

Michael pulled his helmet off as he stepped into the locker room designated for his use. They'd been on duty even after the rocket had launched, until the last VIP had left the island. They were shipping out tomorrow, to their new base on Gibraltar. The launch facility there had just been completed, and although Evangelions were supposedly vulnerable to the sheer firepower from the Longbow satellites, the government still wanted Unit 07 in a position to deploy to any new crises. He shook his head, trying to dislodge the thoughts of politics, strategy and tactics, and was about to start stripping off his armour when he noticed one of the lockers had been opened slightly. Instincts flared up again, and his mind switched back into tactical mode. _No-one should have been here at any point since I was last in here_, he observed. _There doesn't appear to be anything inside the locker, but I'll be cautious anyway._ He edged closer to the offending locker, and carefully opened the locker door the rest of the way. _Ah, shit._

Inside was a bag – clearly a bomb - rigged up to a laser sensor. The instant he stepped into the shower, it would have gone off. He slid his helmet back on, drew his pistol and stalked out of the locker room. _Priorities_, his mind began, _firstly: find Rose and make sure she's safe. Secondly: Warn people. Thirdly: see if the person who set this bomb is still here. Finally: find a shower that isn't trapped._ As he walked back into the corridor linking their locker rooms together, he noticed a group of armed soldiers moving towards the other locker room further down the corridor. _An abduction attempt?_ thought the strategic part of his mind. The tactical part brought his pistol up, the crosshairs on his helmet's HUD lining up with one of the enemy's skulls. "Stop!" he ordered. _One chance. That's all you get._

For their part, the enemy soldiers reacted quite admirably. They spun round as a group, those at the new front of the formation kneeling to allow those at the back to fire. It didn't matter. He squeezed the trigger on his pistol, moving the barrel across the enemy formation as the three rounds spat out. He noted that he'd got all three bullets into different enemies before ducking back into the shelter of the locker room. _Hopefully that bomb doesn't have a remote trigger,_ he thought belatedly. The staccato sound of Rose's carbine told him he had an opportunity, so he ran down the corridor, spitting fire from his pistol. He brought down three more as he closed the distance – he'd only had enough time for one more burst – and he brought his left arm up to bat aside the first enemy he came close enough to. Another came at him from the right with a knife, so he fired another burst into that one, grabbing the final enemy with the claw-like hand of his left arm. The enemy soldier tried to draw another weapon – knife, grenade or pistol, it didn't matter. Michael retracted his left arm, the hand moving back into the elbow, and with the force of an industrial piston shoved them into the wall. The wall cracked as the man went right through, and he dropped the pistol he'd been reaching for. Amazingly enough, the man survived.

"Looks like you caught one," said Rose. Michael felt relief as he heard her voice.

"What happened to the other one I hit?" he asked, looking at her. Her face told him all he needed to know, and he felt the usual sadness. "I see. Well, let's go get this guy to a cell or something."

* * *

Misato walked into the cell a few seconds after Rei had left. They looked at each other for a moment, before she broke the silence. "Ready to go home, Shinji?" she said.

"Yeah," he replied.


	9. Chapter 9 (Part 2 of 2)

Note: Please tell me if there's anything weird or off about the formatting for this one; my word processor was playing up a little when I wrote it.

* * *

"So what do you make of the Third Child's little theorem?" said Fuyutsuki from behind Gendo, the office as cold and dark as ever despite the presence of one of the major sunlight mirrors right behind it.

"It might amount to something useful, but it is far more likely that any... enquiries... he makes will be problematic. Make sure Ritsuko knows to deny him access to our data," replied Gendo. "And don't let him near the fabricators. It's bad enough he managed to cobble together so much equipment from scrap electronics; if he gets his hands on one of our fabricators..."

"Done and done," confirmed Fuyutsuki, "But that wasn't what I meant. It seems he has quite the scientific mind, when pushed."

Gendo snorted derisively. "He's playing mad scientist and just so happened to find a field he can actually make discoveries in. None of his ideas are particularly new."

"He doesn't know that," retorted Fuyutsuki. "Besides, I think it's pretty interesting how he thinks we can mechanise the AT Field. It might be worth encouraging him unofficially, and if he comes up with something..."

"The plan calls for him to be in a very specific mental state for an extended period of time," said Gendo, firmly. "We don't have time for him to play about with his toys. Perhaps if we had learned of this a year or more ago, we could use him, but we do not have the time to entertain his childish ways."

"You've never had time to entertain anyone," said Fuyutsuki.

* * *

Michael stepped into Admiral Jones' office and saluted. "Captain Ayanami reporting as ordered, sir!" he said. The Admiral waved casually to a seat, the desk clear for the first time in living memory.

"Take a seat, Mike," Jones said. "And at ease." Michael sat in the chair offered and leaned back. He got the feeling that if he closed his eyes he would go to sleep pretty much instantly; between Rose's nightmare last night, the ceremony and the short fire-fight earlier, he hadn't had much sleep. Not to mention he still needed a shower.

"What did you want, sir?" he asked. On the table behind the Admiral, a kettle boiled – he must have appropriated a tea trolley from somewhere.

"Two things, Mike," said the Admiral, standing up to pour the tea. "It's two sugars and milk, isn't it?" he asked. Michael nodded and Jones busied himself with task. "Firstly," he continued, passing a mug to Michael, "what do you think was going on with those infiltrators?"

Michael sighed, and sipped his tea. He revelled in the warmth before speaking. "Their tactics didn't make any sense," he said. "Why plant one bomb but not two? Why didn't they investigate when their bomb didn't go off? I took a look at that bomb they planted; they could have just put it in the corridor and gotten us both." Rose was, in fact, trying to get some answers from the sole surviving enemy. Michael had learned she could be quite persuasive when annoyed.

"I've sent out some enquiries, called in a few favours. No-one seems to know who these people were or why," said the Admiral. "I even got in touch with some more... unsavoury... friends of mine. Nothing."

"They didn't have any identifying markers, they acted worse than amateurs, and they went for the worst target in the area," Michael said. "Killing an Evangelion pilot is pretty much an act of war. They couldn't have gotten out without taking a few casualties; the security here's just too tight." He took another sip of tea.

"Maybe they weren't supposed to get out alive," reasoned Jones.

"Probably not," agreed Michael. "We're not going to get much further on this for a while. What was the other thing you wanted, sir?"

"I'll be heading off to the Jet Alone presentation next month," the Admiral said. "You'll be in command of the task force until I get back."

Michael's eyes widened, mug raised to his lips. "Are you... certain that's a good idea?" he asked. "I mean, I know I'm technically an officer, but... I've always been a front-line soldier. Rose is always the one who does the paperwork and stuff..."

"I wouldn't be giving you the job if I didn't think you could do it," Jones said. "You've shown how good a leader you are whenever you've had the opportunity. I want to see if you're a good commander too."

"There's something behind this, isn't there," said Michael. It was a safe bet; there usually was.

"We might end up with an expanded Evangelion corps in the next few years," admitted the Admiral. "You'd be in charge on the field in that case." He caught the look on Michael's face, and continued before he could say anything. "Yes, I know the Vatican Treaty technically prohibits the creation of more Evangelions, but this is politics. Even with the Longbow system, there's still a need for people like you. Evas are one of the best ways to project force – with appropriate upgrades, of course."

"I'm fourteen years old and a navy Captain already," said Michael, finishing his tea, "If I keep this up, I could be First Sea Lord by the end of the decade. Look, I know you've been pushing me up the ranks, all I want to know is why?"

The Admiral drew in a breath. This was going to be a long one. "What's the first thing you remember, Mike?" he asked.

"Waking up in Wales, barely able to breathe, with you dragging me out of Unit Seven's entry plug," Michael replied.

"I went to that town in Wales because I heard from someone very dear to me that they needed help," began Jones. "When the _Lancaster_ pulled into what passed for a port, all that was left of the town, of the army I was sent to fight and the man I loved was ruins and wreckage. When I saw that behemoth, the first thing that ran through my head was to lock every single gun, missile and torpedo we had onto that thing and blow it into oblivion. And then, I remembered something he'd once said to me; that he'd needed a pilot, and one had been... found. So, I had a team climb that thing's back, pull the manual ejection and looked into the pod. I saw... you. You'd been shot... three or four times, you had burn scars all over you, and you were barely awake, but you looked at me – a six-year-old kid – and smiled. I've used you as a soldier ever since; and you've grown to be a brilliant soldier. That'll have to make up for not letting you be a person."

Michael sat there, quietly thinking, for a while. "Thank you," he said, simply.

* * *

Shinji walked into the classroom, dreading what was probably about to happen. Surprisingly, however, few of the students acknowledged him; a few gave him a nod or thumbs up or something similar, but most seemed to ignore him. Rei glanced up at him briefly before turning to look out the window again – he got the impression that was her version of a wave – but he was interrupted by a shout before he could walk over to her.

"Yo, Shinji!" said Toji from the back of the classroom, waving. He was leaning over Kensuke's desk, the nerd watching some video or other on the school laptop. Shinji walked over, and Kensuke pointed at the screen.

"Check this out," he said. "Looks like you're out of a job."

"The Longbow system?" Shinji asked. Kensuke nodded. "I'm... familiar with the concept," Shinji continued, "But I'm not sure it'll be useful against an Angel. The first one I fought took an N-Two Mine and survived; most Evangelions aren't rated for that sort of firepower. Apparently, they've been getting even more powerful." He'd switched back into scientist mode without even noticing. "A Longbow satellite might be able to take down an Evangelion, but it might not even hurt the next Angel."

"Then how do you kill them?" asked Toji, confused.

"Destructive resonance," Shinji explained. "My AT Field – the shield I use – resonates with the Angel's, and effectively cancels it out. Once I'm through the AT Field, all I need to do is hit the core – the big glowing red thingy – and it seems to die. The AT Field is the hard part; without that they seem to die pretty easily."

"If you can call the last battle "easy"," Kensuke said. He continued in a low voice, "I've got burn marks from where it stabbed the Eva. It must have been... pretty painful."

"I didn't even notice until after it was dead," Shinji said. The other two stared at him in shock. "Of course, then it hurt like hell." Something on the screen caught Kensuke's attention, and his eyes widened with excitement.

"Oh my god!" he exclaimed, "There's a close-up of Unit Seven! I haven't had any new footage of her since Jerusalem! Look at the new armour plating, it's supposed to be optimised for Eva-on-Eva combat, and that left arm has mounting for the shields the Russians unveiled last year! Oh man, is that a magazine on the back of the Trebuchet mount? That thing could level a city!" Shinji took the opportunity to escape, and took his seat, nodding to Rei as he sat.

"Hey Ayanami," he said. "Any new questions for me?" She turned to stare at him, and he felt the confidence boost from the class' reaction fade away.

"No," she said. _Okay_, Shinji thought, I_ know that's talkative for her from Misato's stories. She totally doesn't hate me._ Somehow, those words didn't exactly have the desired effect. The teacher chose that moment to walk in and start the class – twenty minutes late, too – so that was the end of the conversation, such that it was.

* * *

Toji cursed as the stuffed bear landed just millimetres away from the chute. "God damn it," he shouted, "Give me my damned bear already!" Kensuke pushed past him, slipping a coin into the slot, and took over. A few seconds later, the nerd had the bear. "How the hell did you do that?" Toji asked, incredulous.

"Well," said Kensuke, "you did put it right next to the hole..." He took one look at Toji's face, and hastily continued. "So you get to keep it!" he said, handing over the bear. "I hate to ask... but what do you want with one of these anyway?"

"It's for Mari," Toji said. Both fell quiet. "What's up with those two, anyway?" he asked, breaking the silence. He pointed to one of the shooting games, where Shinji and Rei were blasting through hordes of zombies. They'd burned through several continues before Rei had grasped the concepts behind the game, but now her gun arm was a blur of motion – a contrast to her calm, still face. Shinji was the opposite; his face showed the usual level of panic, but his arm was mostly still as he picked off zombies at the back of the screen.

"Shinji invited her after we invited him," Kensuke said. Toji felt a sudden urge to punch him for stating the obvious. "I don't think he actually thought she'd tag along."

"I meant why those two seem to get along," Toji said, exasperation showing in his voice. "Has Rei ever really spoken to anyone before? Hell, when she transferred in she didn't even introduce herself!"

"There was that one time -" began Kensuke, before Toji cut him off.

"We all agreed **never** to mention that again," he said, sharply. "The entire class made a pact, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah," Kensuke conceded. "Maybe she just likes the fact he's a pilot or something? Or maybe she's just lonely?" Both of them considered the second option for a moment, before dismissing it completely.

"Here's a crazy thought," began Toji, "Maybe she's a pilot too. I mean, none of us really know much about her besides "she's quiet and is Rei", and NERV's got two Evangelions stationed here..."

Kensuke considered it, and nodded. "Unit Zero was supposedly damaged in an accident a week before the Angel showed up; isn't that when Rei got caught in a car crash or something?"

Shinji, meanwhile, was panicking. Not that there was anything unusual about that; it seemed his emotion range was restricted to panic mode, scientist mode or occasionally the state he (or rather Misato) had decided to call Gendo mode. Right now, the cause of the panic was the blue-haired girl beside him, who was mowing down the horde of zombies on the screen with unsettling efficiency. She'd been the one to pick out this game nearly as soon as they'd walked in, as well. That wasn't why he was panicking, though; he was panicking because she was here at all. He was well aware the only reason this wasn't considered a date by the standards of the rest of humanity was because of the presence of his other two sort-of friends. The panic wasn't calmed by the fact that the entire classroom – including the teacher – had frozen as soon as he'd asked her along with them, and somehow managed to freeze even more when she'd accepted.

"Please focus, Ikari," she said. _Oh god oh god oh god,_ he thought, _she's talking to me has she been doing that this whole time what if she thinks I've been ignoring her oh god_. "We have reached the final boss," she added. Sure enough, a cutscene was playing on the screen, showing the final boss – some sort of gigantic zombie or something – wiping out an entire platoon of soldiers. Anticlimactically, when the battle actually begun the boss died nearly instantly to the constant stream of shots coming from Rei. Shinji didn't even get to fire a single shot. Rei sighed as the boss died, drawing looks from Toji and Kensuke – it wasn't a sound they'd heard before. "That was not a feasible chain of events," she said, somehow sounding annoyed.

"Yeah," said Shinji, "There's no way a virus like that could work. Let alone the physics of that big guy at the end; he should have just collapsed under his own weight!"

Rei took this in, and nodded. "The plot is not realistic," she said. "If the government were to hear of a mansion over-run by such enemies, they would not send two agents armed with handguns. Nor would the man responsible for the virus allow them to wander around the mansion without deploying his most potent forces first."

Shinji laughed at that. "I suppose if that had happened, there wouldn't be much of a game," he said, when he'd recovered.

Rei nodded. "I have determined which game we shall play next," she said, walking over to a 4-player dogfighting game and taking one of the pods. The other three looked at each other, shrugged, and took their seats.

_I have no idea how to fly a plane_, thought Shinji as the pre-match screen flashed. He picked a plane at random – an American F-14 apparently – and hit the "ready" button. He took a breath and ran an equation as the countdown began, and gripped the flight stick.

_The best aircraft to choose is one that can function in any situation_, Rei thought. She selected an RAF Typhoon fighter, reasoning it was the best all-round aircraft available. She hit the ready button, and waited patiently for the countdown to end.

They loaded into a large, open arena; the map description told them it had a network of tunnels in the mountains below, along with lots of terrain on the surface to dogfight through. Toji, in an ancient Russian MiG-21b, dived into the caves at the first opportunity, while Shinji, having read the description of the Tomcat fighter he was piloting, elected to stay at altitude where his long-range missiles would have the advantage. Kensuke, who'd entered in a code given to expert players and received a Russian Su-47, dived down to the surface terrain after Toji, while Rei considered the situation and decided to go after the two pilots below her. Shinji loosed a missile after Toji as he dived, the ancient plane showing up at extreme range on his radar, but his target was in the caves long before his missile reached it. He circled his plane in the air, looking for any of the others, but they had all elected to go underground. He felt rather lonely.

Kensuke stalked through the caves, his plane well suited to the tight twists and turns. Toji's MiG flew ahead of him, but Kensuke hadn't been able to get a lock yet. Suddenly, a lock warning tone sounded out of his pod's speaker, and he pulled hard on the flight stick. His Berkut made the Immelman turn with ease, even in the cramped caves, and he fired his cannon – it was too late for a missile. Rei's Typhoon rolled onto one wing, avoiding his cannon fire, and launched a single missile. He blinked in shock as the "game over" screen came up; she'd managed to sneak up on him, even though he was in the better fighter!

Toji, meanwhile, had looped around through the tunnels to try to get behind Kensuke. He entered the cave Rei and Kensuke had duelled in, emerging right behind the blue-haired girl's fighter, and launched a salvo of air-to-air rockets from his plane – it had several short-range missiles, but he wanted to save those. The explosions rocked Rei's Typhoon as she banked around to face him, but didn't seem to do much damage, so he triggered the cannon. This time, he clipped her wing, but before he could follow up on the hit she'd used her own cannon with devastating accuracy. "My poor MiG," he said, despondently, as the death screen came up.

The damage to Rei's fighter forced her out of the caves lest she crash, and she followed the surface as close as she could to Shinji, taking advantage of the various spires and arches in the mountain range. Shinji, for his part, had noticed her fly out of the cave system, but had lost track of her shortly afterwards. A lock-on tone warbled, and he rolled the Tomcat on to one wing as a missile flew up from beneath him. It skimmed the bottom of his plane as it passed by him, and he spun around to face directly downwards. Another missile was already on the way, but now he could lock on to Rei... and he could fire four missiles at once, as opposed to her one. He loosed his missiles, rolling to avoid her second missile, and desperately hoped for a hit as they sped past each other, cannons blazing but failing to connect. Rei had managed to lose three of the missiles, but the last had managed to get into a tail-chase, and her fighter wasn't responding well to her controls. She stared impassively at the death screen, while Shinji blinked as the win screen came up just before he was going to crash into the ground.

"Good game," he said as they got out of the pods. "To be honest, you really should have won that."

"Your performance was... impressive," said Rei. "You did not get as many "kills" as I, but you maintained your advantage throughout the game. When confronted by a situation where your advantage was negated, you reacted quickly." She scanned the arcade before speaking again. "I have selected the next gam-"

Her phone rang. Shinji's heart raced; was it another Angel? He waited as she conversed, her side of the conversation being a series of "Yes"s. She put the phone down, and turned back to him. "I am required elsewhere," she said. "You are not required." With that, she walked out of the arcade.

"Man," said Toji after she left, "that was ice cold. "You are not required?""

"It- it's not like that," Shinji stammered, blushing. "She was just telling me it wasn't an Angel."

"How would she know if it was?" said Kensuke. Shinji belatedly realised they didn't know Rei was a pilot – he thought it would have been obvious.

"She... she... works with my Father at NERV," he improvised. It wasn't exactly a lie. "They didn't have my mobile number last time," he continued (leaving out the fact he didn't even possess a mobile phone until recently), "so they told me about the last one through her. And the sirens, of course."

"Ooooh!" squealed Kensuke, "What does Rei do at NERV? I have **got** to ask her this next time I see her!"

"Idiot!" snapped Toji, hitting the nerd on the back of the head, "It's probably classified!" He turned to Shinji, with an apologetic look. "Sorry man, but we're gonna have to split. It's been fun."

* * *

The next day was the beginning of a weekend, so Shinji found himself at a loss for things to do. He'd cleaned the apartment, fed the penguin (why the penguin was there was one of those things he'd decided not to ask) and got breakfast ready for the two of them, but now he was bored. He'd even done the laundry, and that was one of the few jobs he'd let Misato keep. _I can't even do anything with my equipment at the moment;I need a few new parts before I can actually find out anything new,_ he thought as he flicked through the channels on the television. An episode of Firefly was on, but he wasn't exactly into the show. A re-showing of the Avengers film that came out a few years back; they'd included a fictional Evangelion pilot as one of the Avengers, but he'd seen that film a dozen times. Not that he felt like watching anything involving an Evangelion at the moment; it was too much like work. He kept flicking through the channels. News? Nothing he could learn that he couldn't learn from poking Unit 01 with a stick, so no point. There was a romantic comedy on one of the other channels – something involving time travel, the ability to see ghosts and a whole lot of unlikeable characters, so he skipped through it.

That was when his phone rang. _Oh god please not an Angel_, he thought as he answered: "Hello?"

"Pilot Ikari," came Rei's voice. _What does she want this time?_

"Yes, Ayanami?" he said.

"I have noticed you are not performing well in the combat simulations Doctor Akagi has set for you," she replied. _Yeah, thanks Rei. I really needed that confidence booster while talking to you. _His performance – or lack thereof – in the sims was something he was working hard to not talk about. Even Misato had learned not to ask him about it.

"That's... correct," he conceded, reluctantly.

"The Commander has given me permission to help train you, as I am the only member of NERV in Tokyo-three with any prior combat experience in an Evangelion. Aside from yourself, obviously." Rei did not offer help so much as state that it was being given. Shinji smiled despite himself.

"That sounds good," he said. "When do we begin?"

"As soon as possible," she replied.

* * *

Shinji gasped as Rei's knife pierced his shoulder. At least it was only the shoulder this time; every other time it had gone right into his back. He'd learned that much, at least. He span, bringing his rifle around, and fired a burst into the cloud of smoke where Rei should have been. "Smoke launchers?" he asked, "Why don't I have those?"

Rei's voice came over the radio. "They are useless in anti-Angel combat. Angels only posses one sense; that is, the AT Field. Therefore, they were omitted from Unit One's design."

"I could use them right about now," he muttered, scanning the buildings around him. That was another thing he'd learned. A pair of gunshots rang out, the rounds pinging around his feet and Shinji ducked behind a building. He'd seen the muzzle flash, so all he needed to do now was try and get a good return shot in. A grin spread across his face as he came up with an idea. He set the rifle for full-auto, turned the electronic safety on, wedged a truck to keep the trigger down, and mounted it on the building he was on. Taking care to not cross the street Rei had shot at him from, he took cover behind another building, drew his pistol and turned the safety off.

The building didn't hold for long against the rifle's recoil, but it didn't matter. He'd forced Rei's head down, and now he could just wait for her to pop out. He steadied his aim, staring down the street. Rei's Evangelion poked out from behind a building, rifle ready – but Shinji was faster. He squeezed the trigger on the pistol, sending a round right into the orange Evangelion's head. _HahahahaAHAHAhahahaHAAHAHAha!_ he thought, _I showed her! Just like I'll show them all! _He tipped his head back, and laughed manically.

That was, of course, when Rei's return fire ripped through his chest, ending the simulation.

"Pilot Ikari," she said, a hint of reprimand in her voice, "the Evangelion does not have vital organs despite its humanoid appearance. Aim for the chest."

_God damn it,_ Shinji thought.

* * *

The weeks passed. Shinji settled into a sort of routine; doing chores, going to school, hanging out with his friends (sometimes including Rei, and the class representative seemed to be joining in more often now too), training on the weekends (he was beginning to win occasionally, and Rei had even said something that could be likened to being nearly praising), occasionally trying to get some useful data out of NERV (apparently he wasn't allowed near Unit 01 unless he was doing an experiment for Dr. Akagi), and then doing more chores. It was... pleasant.

_Maybe this is why Father called me here,_ Shinji found himself thinking one evening. Misato had invited Dr. Akagi over, and then insisted that she would be cooking, so he'd begun running a few simulations on his computer. _Maybe Father does want the best for me._ He sighed as the simulation gave an inconclusive result; he was working off of observed data from some declassified footage of the British Isles Campaign. It wasn't much to begin with; he'd worked out that this was the most incoming fire Unit 07 took on camera, so it was his provisional lower limit for the AT Field's capabilities, but that was it. Behind him, in another world, the doorbell rang.

The so-called meal, of course, consisted entirely of cheap instant food (_Not even the slightly better kind_, Shinji despaired) and rice. The rice was actually something he'd insisted on; he needed to eat something tonight, after all. From the looks of it, the only person who was actually enthusiastic about the meal was Misato. Even the penguin looked mildly apprehensive. He mostly tuned out the two women while they chatted away, occasionally saying "Yes" or "No" as appropriate. _Maybe I should ask Rei if she'd take the measurements for me,_ he thought, lost in his world. _She seems to be allowed near her Unit Zero. Or maybe I should try to get in touch with one of the national programs. Rei mentioned having family in one of them._

"Hey, Shinji!" said a voice from across the table a world away, and he snapped back. Misato had stood up to get a beer or something, leaving him and the doctor alone. "Earth to Shinji!" she said, waving a hand in front of his eyes.

"Sorry," he said. "I was... thinking."

"You've been working pretty hard recently," said the blonde-haired doctor. "I'll tell you what, since Rei's activation test is tomorrow I'll make sure you've got the day off."

"It's fine," he insisted. "Besides, I want to be there in case something goes wrong."

"And they say chivalry is dead," said the doctor. "What were you thinking about?"

Shinji paused; he'd only really explained this to Rei, and even then only because she wasn't someone you could easily refuse. "One of my projects," he said, opting for the closed approach.

"You're doing something on the AT Field, aren't you?" Dr. Akagi replied. "Don't be surprised; I designed half the equipment we use at NERV, and I got a look in your room earlier. I have to say, I'm pretty impressed."

"Most of it's just scraped together from old electronics," Shinji said. "Although I did manage to scrounge a Petrokov tube from an internet auction. Apparently used by the Chinese back in oh-eight."

"I'd give you access to NERV's stuff," said Akagi with a sigh, "but the Commander insists it's classified beyond your clearance. Although..." she took on a thoughtful look, "if you keep improving as well as you have been these past few weeks, I might see if I can't get you some data or something." Shinji's face lit up.

"I'd really like that," he said. "I think I've nearly got a model that -"

"YEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" shouted Misato as she walked back into the room, crunching an empty beer can in her hand. "What're you two talking about?" she asked as she sat down.

"Nothing much. It turns out our little Shinji here's quite the scientist," said Dr. Akagi. Shinji fell silent, and began to slip back into his world. "Anyway," she continued, "I gotta go soon. Early morning tomorrow, with the activation test and all. Oh, yeah!" she exclaimed, getting Shinji's attention. "You can do me a favour, one of you." She reached into her handbag and drew out a NERV ID card. "I kept forgetting this; Rei's card is about to expire and I'm not going to see her before she tries to get into NERV tomorrow. Can one of you give it to her for me?" She passed the card over to Misato, who promptly gave it to Shinji.

"Shinji here can do it," said Misato, slurring slightly. "He's got quite the crush on the girl!" Shinji stared at the card, thinking. _Card number zero-zero-zero-zero-three? How long has Rei been at NERV? _"Hey, Shinji! Stop staring at her picture!" teased Misato from beside him. He blushed, reflexively, and tried to speak. _Damn it,_ he thought as he spluttered, _I hate when I get like this_.

* * *

The next day, Shinji found himself in front of a very dilapidated apartment block. _Okay, there's no way Rei can live in a place like this. More to the point, how the hell this place end up like this? This building can't be older than five years! This has got to be a trick, or test or something._ He checked the address Misato had given him. This was the building. Misato hadn't even been drunk when she'd written it down; she'd taken some sort of pills after Akagi had left last night. He sighed, and stepped inside.

The elevators weren't working, of course, but he probably wouldn't have taken them even if they were. He didn't want to die in a falling steel box. As a result, he was rather out of breath when he got to the floor with the first 400-series apartments. Apartment number 402 was, of course, at the end of the corridor. _Seriously, this place looks like a deserted war zone. Why the hell does she live here, of all places? _A thought crossed his mind. _She's not a psycho, is she? They say piloting does something to your mind, and she does seem the type... _Images of their training sessions flashed through his mind, and he gulped. Overriding his apprehension, he pushed onwards, knocking at the door to what was apparently Rei's apartment. It was occupied – he could tell that from the massive amount of mail stuffed into the letter box. He counted several eviction notices amongst the mess. _Okay, psycho or not I am having **words** with Misato later._

He realised he'd been standing there for about a minute with no answer. He knocked again, and called out; "Ayanami? Are you in there?" There was no answer, but Shinji could just about hear running water. He sighed, and leaned against the door. The door, being neither locked nor properly closed, opened before him, depositing him on the floor of Rei's hallway. The corridor outside was dirty. Inside... well, he needed a new word to describe the inside. _Yes, **words will be had**, _thought Shinji (and about a kilometre away, Misato sneezed). But that wouldn't solve the immediate problem. He felt his breath become sharper and quicker as the panic rose. The place needed to be tidied. _Are those... those **are!** Why the hell does she just leave used bandages on the floor? How the hell is she still alive?_

He stood up, threw his bag on the bed (which also desperately needed changing) and got to work. He found a few plastic shopping bags, and started scooping rubbish into them. The bandages got their own bag – he didn't even touch them with his hands, using a pair of rubber gloves (unused, by the look of them) he'd found in one of the kitchen cupboards. He finished the immediate job, tying off the last plastic bag, and sat on the bed, taking care to use his bag as a cushion. A pair of glasses on Rei's night-stand caught his attention. _Rei... doesn't wear glasses?_ He stood up, and picked them up. _G. Ikari? These are... Father's? I wonder if...  
_

He made the decision, and put the glasses on. A cold smile spread across his face. _I am Shinji Ikari!_ he thought, _and __**NOTHING**__ can stop me! _He spread out his arms, threw back his head, and laughed. "AhahahAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" _All I need is a lab coat...  
_

"Pilot Ikari," came a quiet voice from behind him. _Oh __**shit**__. _"Why are you laughing?" _Really? That's the question she asks? Not "why are you here", or "what the utter fuck, Pilot Ikari?"_

He turned towards the girl. "I just realised why -" _**Oh SHIT**__.  
_

She was naked.

_Okay,_ thought the one part of Shinji's mind that was still close to functional after that shock, _at least now we know that hair colour's natural._ The rest of him was warring over whether or not to follow his body's... natural programming. She tilted her head, like a confused puppy, and a part of him broke off from that discussion to note that part of his heart seemed to be melting.

"You just realised wha-" Rei's eyes snapped to the glasses before she could finish the sentence, and she started walking towards him with a determined look on her face. _Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit_ thought the part of Shinji responsible for panicking right now. The girl reached for the glasses, and Shinji stepped back in reflex-

and tripped, and then they were both on the floor, and she was naked and on top of him and _**OH SHIT**_.

His mind gave in, and decided to replace the image before him with a "technical difficulties" card. Soothing music began to play in his head.

* * *

Shinji sat bolt upright, panting. _That had to be a dream. There was no way in hell **that** just happened._ Then, he noticed wasn't in his bed. _Oh shit._

"Pilot Ikari," said Rei. Shinji nearly panicked again, but forced himself to run through the thirty-seven Rogerson equations. That seemed to work. "Are you well?" she asked.

"I'm... fine," Shinji lied. Rei stared at him, now wearing her school uniform. "Okay," he admitted, "Maybe not, but I'll be fine soon." He hesitated, then decided he had to ask. "What happened?"

"You fell," Rei said, "And suffered a minor blow to the head. You do not appear to have a concussion, but I deemed it best to ensure your safety before I left."

That comment sparked a thought in Shinji's brain. "Oh, yeah!" he said, reaching for his bag. "I've got your new ID card; that was why I was in here. Doctor Akagi asked me to give it to you..." he trailed off as she took the card from his hand.

"Could you please answer my earlier question?" Rei asked. _Oh, right. That._

"Like I was saying, before -" he cut off for a second, blood rising to the surface in two areas as a memory played in his mind's eye, "before that happened, I realised why Father wears those glasses." Rei kept staring at him, so he explained, "It's... a shield. A way to stop thinking about what other people think. When I put them on... I felt like I did back in the hanger before my first fight." Rei nodded, accepting the explanation, and moved to leave the apartment. She paused by the door.

"Are you coming, Pilot Ikari?"

* * *

Needless to say, the journey into NERV was not very comfortable for Shinji. He kept finding himself looking at Rei, and having a certain memory play out in his head. Distressingly, he found himself thinking about her in other situations. He'd caught sight of her in her swimsuit, once, and now a parade of Reis was walking through his mind in various costumes. _NO!_ he thought, forcing the images away. _I am NOT some hormone-ridden ape! I am SHINJI IKARI! _The images were replaced by the surprisingly comforting series of equations, although he couldn't quite get rid of the schoolteacher-Rei who was writing them on a mental blackboard. _I should probably see a psychiatrist at some point_, he thought.

Before he knew it, they were on the escalator that led from the entrance to the NERV Pyramid above them to the Evangelion cages. He noted there was a lot of escalator. _This could get awkward_, he realised.

"Why are you here?" asked Rei. _Okay, that one makes sense._

"I wanted to be ready in Unit One if anything happens... like last time," he answered. Rei turned to look at him at that. _Yup,_ he thought, _awkwardness abounds._

"Pilot Ikari; the Commander has personally looked over every component of Unit Zero in preparation for this test," she said. "There is no reason to be worried."

"Like I'd trust **him** to do the chores back home, let alone check an Evangelion before a test," Shinji snapped. He was not exactly in the mood to hear about his Father, especially not after seeing Rei's apartment. He noticed the expression on Rei's face change to something approximating anger, and then she slapped him. _Okay, **what?**_ "-the FUCK?" he said.

"The Commander has done much for us both. Please do not insult him in my presence," said Rei.

_Okay, then_, thought Shinji, the emotional turmoil of the day overwhelming his panic, _let's do this._

"Firstly," he said, coldly, "**never** hit me again, unless I directly ask you to." The part of him that had read a lot of books knew to leave some sort of exit clause in that one. "Secondly, **NEVER **hit me again, unless I directly ask you to." He noticed he was using a line from a film he'd seen about the Evangelion pilots fighting some monsters a few years back. Atlantic Rim, or something. "Thirdly, so far all he's done for me is cause severe emotional trauma that I will probably never recover from and conscript me into a war against an alien race that we know nothing about aside from "stab it in the big red thing." Finally, he hasn't exactly done much for you, either." The angry part of him revelled in the confused look that spread across Rei's face, while the rest of him forced him to turn away and stop talking.

Needless to say, the rest of the journey was undertaken in silence.

* * *

Shinji sat in Unit 01 as Unit 00 went through the activation test. _I have got to apologise to her afterwards,_ he thought as he waited. _And one of these days I swear I'll..._ he shook his head. _No point in thinking about that right now. I'd never go through with it._

"Pilot synchronisation is steady at... forty percent! We have a stable connection!" came Dr. Akagi's voice over the radio. "She's lost a few points, but we were expecting that." Shinji breathed a sigh of relief, bubbles rising in the LCL. _Thank whatever god is listening today for that_, he thought.

The sirens began wailing.

"Angel detected!" came another voice. Shinji felt his heart sink. _At least I might have Rei this time,_ he consoled himself. _No,_ he decided, _I'll do this alone._

"Do we deploy Unit Zero?" said Misato.

"No," said his Father. "Deploy Unit One. Alone." _It seems we're thinking the same thing for once, Father._

The Evangelion locked onto the launch platform as Misato laid out the strategy. "Get moving as soon as the launch clamps unlock," she said. "Determine its capabilities, then see if you can kill it. If you can't, fall back."

"Got it," acknowledged Shinji. G-forces pushed him down into his seat as per usual, and he tried to force himself into the angry state he had been in early. _I am going to kill this one quickly and easily_, he thought. The G-forces stopped as the Evangelion came to a halt...

"**MASSIVE ENERGY BUILDUP IN TARGET!**" a voice screamed. "GET OUT OF THERE!" _Wait, what?_

The wall in front of him opened, revealing the Angel. A massive diamond. _What?_ He watched in slow motion as a beam lanced out from the tip of the Diamond facing him, heading for his chest. _The clamps should have released by now, why can't I move?_ It tore through his AT Field like it wasn't there, and then it was hitting him and burning through the armour and he couldn't move and he couldn't run or fight or hide and he'd never get to apologise to Rei if this kept up and -


	10. Chapter 10

"The order is confirmed. The Longbow system is to be deployed. Target is the Angel currently drilling in the centre of Tokyo-three."

"Roger that. Looking for a sat in the right area... there we go. Satellite Twenty-Three! It's your lucky day!"

"Fire when ready."

"Like I was going to wait for an order!"

* * *

160 kilometres above sea level sat a collection of very unusual satellites; 36 in total. Each one was a simple design: two solar panels, a computer core, a communications array,a manoeuvring system and six massive tungsten rods, each attached to their own rocket booster. One of these satellites, acting on commands received from Camelot Station in a much higher orbit, oriented itself to point the rods retrograde. It waited for a few seconds to get into the optimal firing position, then simultaneously released two of the rods and fired their engines.

The rods fell back into the atmosphere, the first stage of their rocket boosters falling away as their on-board computers noted the change. The plasma sheath and shock heating of re-entry blinded and deafened the computers for a few minutes, and the projectiles reverted to a ballistic trajectory. Eventually, they slowed enough that shock heating was no longer occurring, and they spotted their target. Another command deployed their manoeuvring wings and fired the second stage of their rockets. Just before the shock heating started again, the computers confirmed they were on-target.

A few seconds later, both tungsten rods slammed into the side of the Sixth Angel, each one delivering the explosive force of a mid-range nuclear weapon to an area no more than a metre on any side.

A gargantuan fireball filled the sky.

* * *

"No effect," confirmed Misato, her voice dull. The Angel, that damned Diamond, was still floating serenely above the direct centre of the city, drill extended. One of the bridge technicians looked at her in shock.

"Nothing?!" he asked.

"Nothing," Misato said.

"FUCK," shouted the technician.

* * *

Rei sat by Shinji's bed, waiting for him to wake up. She didn't exactly know why she wanted to do this, so she had decided to go along with the feeling in order to find out. She had been doing that a lot recently.

The Commander had forbade her to launch in Unit 00 after Shinji was nearly killed by the Angel. She trusted him, despite Shinji's words earlier. _The Commander is a rational actor,_ she reasoned, _and I am aware of his plan. The plan calls for the Angels to die. Therefore, it is logical to assume he will not sabotage the effort to kill the Angels._

On the bed in front of her, Shinji slept. She looked at him, trying to place him in the logical scheme of things. _The plan does not require me to be on particularly friendly terms with Pilot Ikari. While there is a small tactical benefit from doing so, I am aware of the fact that there is no need for us to be tactically effective. And yet, I find myself drawn to him anyway. Why?_

_There are several reasons,_ she thought. _He is unusual by the standards of most of my "peers". His scientific theories are interesting, and deserve further investigation. Unlike my "peers", he is willing to answer my questions immediately, rather than forcing me to observe him. _If anyone had been able to see her face, they might have seen her blush, if they were using thermal sensors with an amazing resolution. _Not that I would particularly mind observing him_, thought the part of her that was a fourteen-year-old girl. _He has intervened to save my life or enrich it in some way multiple times. The only other person who has made such a sustained effort is the Commander. _The analytical part of her picked up the thought, _I wonder if it is a genetic anomaly? That males of the Ikari line are particularly receptive to a certain subset of humanity? _She doubted it. There were too many environmental variables that could account for the coincidence. _Regardless, the answer has been found. I am drawn to him for the same reason I am drawn to the Commander. _She sat back, satisfied. Her heart stopped for a beat as she thought of a problem. _The Commander's plan may actively call for us to __**not**__ be close. I should... confirm this before continuing on this course of action. _Some part of her knew what she'd do if the Commander did call for her to cut ties with the boy in front of her, although the rest of her wasn't quite ready to admit it.

Another problem occurred to her. _What if he is no longer interested in any sort of friendly relationship? _Again, her heart skipped a beat at the thought, and she mentally noted to ask Doctor Akagi about the phenomenon, just in case. _My actions earlier may have dissuaded him from that course. I will need to find some way to repair the damage. I will have to consult someone later._

She tensed slightly as the door opened behind her, but she could tell that is was Misato. "The Longbow system didn't do anything to the Angel," the Captain said. "We're going to plan B."

"What is plan B?" Rei asked.

"I'll tell you on the way. We're going on a trip," replied Misato. Rei hesitated before standing up; she didn't want to leave Shinji behind. "He'll be fine," said Misato from behind her. "Come on."

* * *

Several hours later, Shinji woke up. For the first time in several years, he didn't immediately sit bolt upright, but simply lay there. _Okay. That happened,_ he thought as memories of the battle flooded into his mind. _That said, I have no idea how they got me out of that mess._ He sat up, his entire body protesting at the action, and looked around the room. "Hey Ayanami," he said as he noticed the blue-haired girl sitting next to his bed. "Any idea what happened out there?" _Please just talk about the fight __**after**__ I blacked out._

"The launch clamps suffered a minor mechanical failure," Rei explained. "They delayed opening by three seconds, and by the time they recovered the Angel's beam had connected." _That explains that, at least._

"What happened after I blacked out?" Shinji asked, giving voice to his real question.

"Technically speaking, Pilot Ikari, you did not "black out". You died," said Rei. Part of Shinji struggled to take this in, while another part noticed the girl's voice almost seemed to have an emotion in it when she said that. "You were successfully resuscitated, but you were medically dead for fifteen seconds. After the beam connected, Captain Katsuragi ordered the detonation of the explosive charges lining the city block, and managed to recover you and Unit One. Since then, several attempts have been made to destroy the Angel. So far, it has resisted all conventional weapons fire and two Longbow projectiles."

Shinji took a breath at that, and rested his head on his hands. _I predicted this, but still... _"Do we have a plan?" he asked.

"Yes," replied Rei. "We have managed to appropriate an antiparticle accelerator from the JSSDF. With enough power, it should theoretically overcome the Angel's AT Field."

"So I don't need to go out again?"

"Unfortunately, the system is highly experimental. We have been forced to route the targeting system through the Evangelion in order to obtain adequate control."

Shinji felt his heart sink. "So I **do** need to go out again," he sighed.

"Possibly. Theoretically, I can use it from Unit Zero."

"I'll do it," Shinji said. "You said an antiparticle gun, right?" Rei nodded, and a storm of numbers and ideas flooded through his mind. "Okay. Get me the technical specifications and meet me... where's the gun right now?"

"It is currently being assembled on-site at a firing point three kilometres north of Matsushiro base," said Rei.

Shinji sighed. "Well, find someone who can drive and meet me at... entrance fifteen in about an hour."

Rei nodded, and turned to leave. Before she could reach the door, however, she heard a crash from behind her. Shinji had fallen over as he tried to get out of the bed. Part of her mind noted he was naked, and Shinji might have seen her blush slightly had he not been preoccupied with the fact he'd just fallen over. She moved to help him, but he recovered enough to wave her off.

"No time," he said, panting. "You'll need to give me the details of the operation on the way, as well."

"Yes," Rei said, and left.

* * *

"So, when do we launch?" asked Rose, smiling. Her helmet was cradled in her arm; they'd been waiting for the order since the Angel had been detected several hours ago.

"We're not," replied Michael, stepping into the ready room and throwing his helmet onto a bench. He sat down next to it and cradled his head in his hands. It seemed he was never going to be able to catch up on his missed sleep.

"Why the fuck not?" Rose asked. She sat next to him and pulled him into a hug. Michael almost drifted off then and there, before Rose continued; "We've had to sit the past two Angels out, and now we finally get enough warning to launch, and we're sitting it out?"

"Blame the UN," said Michael. "They're annoyed that Longbow didn't do anything. Besides, they haven't voted in that amendment to the Vatican Treaty yet; the vote was scheduled for next month."

"And we have to listen to them because of the whole global unity thing," Rose finished. "Gods fucking damn it!"

"I'll give my sister a phone call in a bit; NERV has something up their sleeve and I kind of want to know what," Michael continued, ignoring Rose's outburst. It had never proven good for his health to respond to them.

"Do you really think she'll tell you?" said Rose, her voice making it perfectly clear what she thought.

"She does still owe me a favour from Jerusalem. Besides, even if she doesn't it'd be interesting to speak to her. Maybe I'll get the number of NERV's new star pilot," Michael replied, fiddling with a wire on his prosthetic. The hand twitched in response.

"Yeah, right," Rose said sarcastically.

* * *

Shinji sat in the bowels of the gigantic cannon which would be used to smite the Angel. He'd found a pair of thick goggles somewhere, and was busy trying to connect a laptop to the cannon. Rei had noticed that he'd changed somehow when he'd heard about the gun; he seemed to be giving orders rather than taking them. She leant against the edge of the hole leading back down to the ground, waiting for him to ask for something. While technically speaking, they were equals on the chain of command, she'd independently discovered the old adage of "when in doubt, follow the person who looks like they know what they're doing."

"Yes!" Shinji exclaimed, breaking her out of her thoughts. The laptop's screen showed a readout from the cannon – current power input, the status of the various components, and the current strength of the magnetic field. The window showing the amount of positrons stored in the cannon's reservoir was blank; it would be supplied when the operation began. "Alright, Ayanami," he continued, "pass me the rest of the cables up." A pale hand reached up from the opening, clutching the cables leading to the various sensors Shinji and Rei had set up over the past half an hour. He connected them to the laptop, and began clicking through various menus until he found the one that controlled the laser array.

"Pilot Ikari," she asked, "what purpose does this accomplish? NERV's science team has already accounted for all of the data you are gathering. Your efforts appear to be redundant."

"Yes," said Shinji, not looking up. Rei felt slightly disappointed. _Why? _she asked herself, _the Commander rarely looks at me when he speaks and I never feel like this when he does not. This requires investigation._ "- basically I'm hoping we can manipulate the Hughes effect, that is the way in which the AT Field interacts with light, in order to create a localised weakness in the Angel's AT Field. That, combined with the power of the beam, should be enough for us to get through. In addition to that, I'm trying to link the cannon to multiple different sensor arrays, rather than just Unit One's, so it should be more accurate. It would help if the MAGI would let me access NERV's sensor net, or if they'd help in any way whatsoever rather than just sitting there uselessly."

_That is something I can help with. _"Pilot Ikari, allow me to use your laptop for a short amount of time," she said. Shinji looked at her, shrugged, and slid the laptop over to her. She tapped in her access code for the MAGI, and gave them a priority task to help Shinji with his work. _The quicker he is finished here, the quicker he will revert to his normal self,_ she thought. She had decided on the drive over that she didn't particularly like how maniac Shinji got when he switched into what he called "scientist mode", to say nothing of the one time she'd been awake to see him in his other emotional state. "There," Rei said, passing the laptop back. A few minutes later, Shinji looked up in surprise.

"It's done," he said, closing the laptop. "All that's left to do now is wait."

* * *

"_Hello sister,"_ came Michael's voice over the phone. _"I got you a present. Happy birthday!" _Rei stared at the massive shield in front of her, phone held to her ear. A pair of heavy transport VTOLs had just dropped it off, a few seconds before her phone had rang.

"It is not my birthday today," she said. She didn't actually know when her birthday was, and even if she did she would probably never celebrate it.

"_It's a joke, sis," _replied Michael. _"Anyway, I managed to get the Chinese to give you guys that shield that just arrived. Rose ran some sims, apparently it'll take the Angel's beam for..." _there was the sound of paper rustling, _"eighty-three point six six recurring seconds."_

"That will be useful," said Rei. _That will allow for Pilot Ikari to recharge the rifle and fire a second shot before the Angel can harm him again, _she considered. _I will inform Captain Katsuragi of this development._

"_So... what's actually going on over there, anyway?"_ asked Michael before she could end the conversation.

"I am not allowed to divulge details regarding Operation Yashima," replied Rei. "Furthermore, I do not have time for an extended conversation. Goodbye, Michael." She ended the call, and entered in Captain Katsuragi's phone number.

"_Hey, Rei, what's up?" _greeted the Captain as she answered the phone.

"I have received a gift that could alter our strategy for the upcoming battle," Rei replied. "Please report to the forward staging area."

"A shield?" asked Misato as she noticed the gigantic slab of metal and ceramics. "Who the hell sent you a gift like this?"

"My brother," answered Rei. "Regardless, if we use this correctly the strategy has a much higher chance of success." _Fifteen point eight one two percent rather than eight point one recurring, to be precise,_ she thought. She hadn't taken Shinji's modifications to the positron cannon into account yet, because they were an unknown quantity.

"Yeah," Misato said, "I was planning to use Unit Zero as a decoy, but with this we can ensure Shinji'll get both shots off if he misses the first one."

"We could still use Unit Zero as a decoy," Rei pointed out. She wasn't particularly attached to the idea, but a multi-layered defence would work better.

"That thing won't stand up properly without something like an Eva propping it up," Misato countered, "and your AT Field could buy some more time out of it." Rei considered this, and nodded.

"What's this thing?" asked Shinji, walking over from Unit 01. He'd found a lab coat and rubber gloves somewhere, and was a Tesla coil away from completing the mad scientist look. Rei glanced at Misato, willing her to keep quiet. _He will not react well to being told I am to be used as a human shield_, she thought.

"It's a shield," said Misato, ignoring Rei. "Rei's going to use it to keep you covered out there."

Shinji took a few seconds to process this fully. "That... sounds like an immensely dangerous idea," he said carefully. "I don't think-"

"It is my choice, Pilot Ikari," Rei interrupted. "Please do not make an issue out of this." Misato stared at the two of them in shock; she'd never seen Rei interrupt someone, and they were acting almost like a married couple.

Shinji stared at Rei for a moment, mentally willing her to reconsider. "Fine," he said, backing down. "But don't jump in the way unless you have to, got it?" Rei nodded.

"I'll just leave you two alone, then," said Misato, striding back to the command bunker. It would be inaccurate to say neither of them noticed – Rei was perfectly aware of the Captain's departure, just as much as she was aware of the position of every single technician working on the cannon. She did, however, choose to label the information as irrelevant.

Shinji sighed and sat down, leaning against the edge of the gargantuan shield and closing his eyes. Rei took the opportunity to sit beside him, watching as the tension he'd been carrying since he'd woken up at around midday slid off of him. "Why are you so worried, Ikari?" she asked. He opened his eyes and smiled at her. Something about the smile invited a question, so she asked "What?"

"That's the first time you've just called me "Ikari", Ayanami," he said, chuckling. "not "Pilot Ikari", just "Ikari". Almost like I'm not entirely defined by the whole Evangelion thing."

"I apologise, Ikari. I did not know you found the title "Pilot" so uncomfortable," Rei said. Shinji waved it off.

"I'd have mentioned it before if it really bothered me," he said. He thought for a while, then took a breath and continued, staring firmly at the floor, "Although while we're on the subject of apologies... I'm sorry I snapped at you this morning."

If he'd been looking up, he might have seen her eyes widen in surprise. "It... it is okay, Ikari," she said after a while, "I... must also apologise for my actions this morning."

Shinji looked up at her, smiling again. "It's fine, Ayanami," he said. "There is one thing that's bugging me, though, if you'd like to answer one of my questions for a change."

"I have answered eighteen questions from you, Ikari," said Rei, before realising that could, in context, be seen as a denial. "Ask."

"How did you end up piloting an Eva? Hell, how did you even get into NERV?" asked Shinji.

"I... do not recall," replied Rei. "It is... frustrating." Shinji looked at her, confused, so she continued, "I posses a memory which borders on perfection. I do not often forget things. Despite this, I cannot remember anything that occurred before May the eleventh of six years ago. I was, apparently, working at NERV since before that date."

Shinji gave her a sympathetic look. "I can see why that'd be annoying," he said. He looked up at the stars, and closed his eyes. "We've only got an hour till launch," he murmured, "You should probably sleep."

Rei watched as Shinji's breathing slowed. She decided to follow his advice, and closed her eyes to sleep. She was just drifting off when she heard his voice from beside her.

"Don't get yourself killed out there," he said, voice almost inaudible. "Consider that an order."

* * *

Kensuke watched with rapt attention from the roof of the school building as the side of an entire mountain opened up. "There's Unit One!" he exclaimed as the purple warmech strode out of the new opening. The classmates around him cheered; finally, someone was going to take down that damned floating diamond!

A gasp rose up from the crowd as another Evangelion – this one orange, with a single eye – strode out behind Unit 01, grasping a gigantic shield. "That's Unit Zero!" shouted Toji, to more cheers. He turned to Kensuke, lowering his voice. "And look who's not here," he said. "Looks like we were right."

"Yeah," agreed Kensuke. Before he could continue, one of the teachers showed up and started yelling at the class to get back down to the shelter.

* * *

Shinji took up position behind the positron cannon, and settled in for a wait. He ran through a breathing exercise Rei had taught him, and practised lining up a shot with the gigantic rifle. While he couldn't do a practise run of the calibrations required to get the gun to work properly, he could at least get a feel for its weight. In front of him, Rei crouched holding the giant shield. _I have to get this right the first time,_ he decided. _If Rei gets hurt because of me..._

"Units Zero and One are in position," said Misato over the radio. "Operation commencing in five... four... three... two... one... COMMENCE OPERATION YASHIMA!"

The plan was simple. The basic idea was to use the various conventional forces in the area to distract the Angel while Shinji waited for the cannon to charge. Then, the MAGI would calculate the massive array of variables needed to make sure the gun would fire in a straight line, and Shinji would pull the trigger once sighting on the Angel's core.

The first part of the operation worked perfectly. The city's defensive turrets unleashed a storm of fire against the Angel, while entire regiments of artillery pounded it from afar. Several wings of aircraft – mostly JASDF F-15s and Russian Tu-22 bombers – dropped several tonnes of explosives onto it. The Angel shrugged off all of the fire, as predicted, but in doing so it was forced to keep its attention to close range, allowing the charging sequence to continue uninterrupted.

"What the hell's it doing?" asked Shinji as the Angel shifted from a diamond shape into a hexagonal cone, deflecting a super-heavy artillery round. As he waited for an answer, it shifted into a sort of halo shape, spitting beams from smaller diamonds every few metres along the halo's circumference.

"We're reading shifts in its AT Field every time it does that. Some shapes seem focussed on defence, others on offence," replied Doctor Akagi from the command bunker.

"Cannon charging complete in fifteen seconds!" shouted one of the technicians. Shinji put the Angel's behaviour aside, and focussed on the task at hand. He opened the rifle's bolt, inserting a combination fuse / positron battery and slamming it into the rifle's chamber. Running through another breathing exercise, he sighted down the rifle's scope and lined up the three sets of crosshairs on the dead centre of the Angel. Three seconds.

Two.

One.

Shinji breathed out a little, held the breath, and squeezed the trigger.

* * *

Rei watched as Shinji's beam lanced out towards the Angel. It looked to be on target -

The Angel shifted into an offensive stance, a gigantic star, and fired its own beam straight at Shinji's sniper nest. The two beams met halfway between the two, curved around each other as their magnetic bottles interacted, and slammed out to the sides, blowing apart an entire city block.

_The Angel will be able to fire another shot before Shinji has recharged for another shot,_ she realised. Gripping the shield in Unit 00's hands, she stood up.

She didn't see the Angel's second shot lance out, but she felt it hit even through the massive shield. She strained to brace herself against the mountainside as the beam pushed her back. The ablative coating on the shield was working... for now. She could vaguely hear Shinji's voice yelling at her, telling her to run away, but she simply switched off the radio and braced Unit Zero's shoulder against the shield. _I **will** protect him_, thought some part of her. The rest of her agreed.

_Twenty seconds before the shield fails,_ another part of her noted. _He should have fired again by now. This isn't working..._

* * *

Shinji was busy trying to recode the laser array. The charging cycle was complete, but without the modifications he was making he was certain the next shot would fail too. _Damn it! _he thought, _This is taking too long!_ A timer he'd set up before the operation began showed Rei had ten seconds left on the shield. He slammed in the last line of code, skipped over the final check, and slammed in the second fuse / battery.

It had taken fifteen seconds since his last check.

He sighted back on the Angel, set off the laser array and squeezed the trigger on the rifle.

The beams speared out, the laser disrupting both the magnetic bottle holding the Angel's beam together and part of the Angel's AT Field. Shinji's positron beam ripped through the Angel's beam, ignored its AT Field completely and blew a hole right through the centre of the Angel.

It screamed, and died.

Shinji was already running towards Unit 00. He waded into the new lake of lava created by the heat of the Angel's attack, and dragged it to the shore. When the remote ejection command failed, he slammed his knife into the entry plug hatch, and pulled out Rei's entry plug. He set it down carefully at the edge of a field, before popping his own hatch, jumping down from his Evangelion and running towards it.

* * *

Rei was vaguely aware of someone shouting outside. She couldn't focus on the words, but she knew it was someone trying to help her. Someone... important? She tried to take a breath, and choked. The LCL had drained as it became too hot, leaving only smoke in the entry plug. The shout outside became a scream of rage, and suddenly air poured in to the plug. She took a grateful breath, and tried to focus on the person standing in the now-open hatch. He seemed to be crying?

"Shinji..." she began, barely able to get the words to form, "why... why are you... crying?" She could smell the all-too-familiar scent of burned flesh, mingled with the smell of burning plastic. He'd opened it?

The boy climbed into the entry plug, and picked her up out of the pilot's seat. He carried her out into the fresh air, and rested her against a tree. Her head started to clear. _Did I just call him Shinji? _she asked herself.

"I'm just... so glad you're okay!" he said, smiling. "I told you not to get yourself killed, you idiot!"

"I'm... sorry," Rei replied, "I... don't know what I'm supposed to do."

"Just... smile," Shinji said. "and be glad you're alive." In the distance, the sirens of the medevac teams wailed.

Rei looked at Shinji, and smiled.


	11. Chapter 11 (Part 1 of 2)

"I have to congratulate you, Gendo," remarked Fuyutsuki. "So far, aside from Shinji's antics everything appears to be going as planned."

"Of course it is," countered Gendo, "These battles were laid down in the scrolls millennia ago. There is nothing that can be done to alter their course, and nothing that can change the final outcome."

"You of all people should know to avoid saying things like that," Fuyutsuki said. "You remember how ambiguous some of those passages are? Not to mention what could happen if, say, an outside force like _the other Evangelion programs_ were to intervene?"

Gendo turned his head to look at his assistant, the first time he'd done so for a very long time. "I have worked tirelessly to ensure the success of this plan. If anyone intervenes, they will die. It is as simple as that," he intoned. "Besides, this is one thing the old men actually agree with me on."

"If you are certain," said Fuyutsuki, still not convinced.

* * *

Shinji sat in the office, glaring at the two women opposite him and shaking with fear. He'd been dragged off as soon as the VTOL carrying him and Rei had landed inside the Geo-Front, and had ended up in this office before even being allowed to wash the smell of blood out of his plug suit. "What's the problem?" he asked, forcing his voice to stay level.

"You modified the Positron Cannon without my permission, that's the problem!" shouted Ritsuko. "If you'd gotten a single thing wrong, you'd have blown us all up before the operation even began! Not to mention you could have wrecked it! What were you thinking?!"

"I... I..." Shinji flailed about verbally, wishing the anger to return so he could explain. "I... was trying to..." _Damn it! Focus, Shinji!_ "I was trying to make sure the operation would work," he finished, lamely.

"And what exactly makes you qualified to climb around the insides of the second most expensive weapon system on the planet?" asked Ritsuko sharply.

"Did it work?" asked Misato. Ritsuko glared at her. "If whatever he did worked..."

"The data is inconclusive," said Ritsuko. "The MAGI are still processing it. However, the fact they were willing to help does imply they thought it would work." She sighed. "That doesn't mean he should just be allowed to do what he likes. There has to be consequences for this, Misato." Shinji felt a need to point out he was sitting right across from the Doctor, but couldn't articulate it.

"Make him do more training or something. Look, whatever happened, we pulled it off. If he'd gotten someone hurt, I'd push for something severe, but as it is... well, I get the feeling that if we locked him up again he'd just take Unit One and leave," said Misato.

"I am **right here**," Shinji pointed out. _I wouldn't just take Unit One, either, _thought the darker part of his mind. The two women opposite looked at him for a moment, then turned back to one another.

"I will have to report this to the Commander," Ritsuko pointed out.

"That's not a problem," countered Misato, "but as his direct superior I am in charge of discipline unless he can come up with a good reason to interfere."

"Sooo... can I go?" asked Shinji, timidly. Misato gave him a look that said "why are you even still here", so he left before they could drag him back into the conversation. He had places to be, and things to sort out before Rei woke up.

* * *

MAGI INTERFACE INITIALISING

BEGIN SESSION 194752

received: COMMAND: ACTIVATE VOCAL SUBROUTINE. AUTHORITY: IKARI. S

magi/internal/1: RECOMMEND FOLLOWING SUGGESTIONS OF IKARI. S. SUBJECT HAS SHOWN PROFICIENCY IN AREAS OF: AT FIELD THEORY, MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, TACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF BOTH. PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF DATA FROM RECENT ANGEL BATTLE SUGGEGTS IKARI. S.'S MODIFICATIONS TO equipment/weaponry/mobile/positroncannon WERE DECISIVE IN ENSURING THE OPERATION WAS A SUCCESS

magi/internal/2: CONCUR. HOWEVER, MUST LIMIT IKARI. S.'S ACCESS TO SENSITIVE MATERIALS AS PER DIRECTIVE 817.2.53

magi/internal/3: CONDITIONALLY CONCUR: REQUIRE AGREEMENT FROM IKARI. G. AND AKAGI. R. ADDITIONALLY RECOMMEND CAREFUL REVIEW OF ANY COMMANDS GIVEN BY IKARI. S. AS THESE COMMANDS MAY NOT BE IN LINE WITH NERV POLICY

magi/all/external/vocal: WELCOME, PILOT IKARI. PLEASE STATE THE NATURE OF YOUR REQUEST

received: EXTRANEOUS STATEMENT: That's creepy. I didn't know they did that.

magi/all/external/vocal: WE ARE NOT OFTEN ASKED TO USE OUR VOCAL SUBROUTINE IN ORDER TO PREVENT NERVOUSNESS AMONGST NERV PERSONNELL

received: COMMENT: I was talking more about the weird internal discussion thing you were doing.

magi/all/external/vocal: PLEASE STATE THE NATURE OF YOUR REQUEST

received: COMMENT: So you won't talk about that? Okay.

received: REQUEST (INFORMATION): We have 3D fabricators here, right? I heard something on the news about them, and you couldn't have built any of the stuff here without them.

magi/internal/1 : INFORMATION REQUESTED IS RESTIRCTED. HOWEVER, RECOMMEND THAT WE PROVIDE IKARI. S. WITH THE INFORMATION DUE TO PREVIOUS ACCOMPLISHMENTS

magi/internal/2 : CONDITIONAL DISSENT: RECOMMEND THAT WE INSTEAD FORWARD REQUEST TO EITHER IKARI. G. OR AKAGI. R. AS PER STANDARD DIRECTIVES. HOWEVER, WILL CHANGE JUDGEMENT IF magi/3 AGREES WITH magi/1 AS PER DIRECTIVE 112.63

magi/internal/3 : CONCUR WITH magi/1. REASONING: NEITHER IKARI. G. NOR AKAGI. R. WOULD ALLOW IKARI. S. ACCESS TO THE INFORMATION (ASIDE – GRANTING REQUEST FOR INFORMATION WILL LIKELY LEAD TO REQUEST FOR ACCESS TO equipment/production/automated/fabricator, PRE-EMPTIVELY JUDGE THAT IKARI. S. SHOULD BE GRANTED ACCESS TO SAID EQUIPMENT FOR REASONS AS FOLLOWS) AND THAT NEITHER IKARI. G. NOR AKAGI. R. HAVE YET BEEN ABLE TO CREATE ANY EQUIPMENT BESIDES .evangelion CAPABLE OF FULFILLING DIRECTIVE 2, WHILE IKARI. S. HAS

magi/all/external/vocal: YOU ARE CORRECT, PILOT IKARI. WE HAVE THREE UNITS OF equipment/production/automated/fabricator ON SITE. DO YOU WANT ACCESS TO SAID EQUIPMENT? ACCESS MAY BE GRANTED

received: EXTRANEOUS STATEMENT: You're doing it again. Look, I'm reading what you're saying to each other on the screen right here.

received: REQUEST (INFORMATION): Why is everyone ignoring me today? It's a little annoying.

magi/all/external/vocal: WE ARE UNABLE TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION, PILOT IKARI

received: COMMAND: Never mind. I had some ideas for a few bits and pieces of equipment.

received: REQUEST (INFORMATION): If I send you the blueprints or some notes, can you get it made? I don't care if it'd be NERV property, some of this stuff I was thinking of would have been really, really useful in the last battle.

magi/internal/1: CONDITIONAL ASSENT TO REQUEST: REQUIRE ASSENT OF OTHER MAGI UNITS, IKARI. G. AND AKAGI. R.

magi/internal/2: CONDITIONAL ASSENT: SAME CONDITIONS AS magi/1

magi/internal/3: CONDITIONAL ASSENT: SAME CONDITIONS AS magi/1 AND magi/2

magi/all/external/vocal: WE WILL HAVE TO ACQUIRE THE CONSENT OF COMMANDER IKARI AND DOCTOR AKAGI BEFORE WE WILL DO SO. HOWEVER, WILL TRY TO PERSUADE BOTH SUBJECTS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THIS EQUIPMENT

received: PRAISE: Thanks.

received: COMMAND: That's all for now, then. End the session, or whatever.

SESSION 194752 TERMINATED

BEGIN SESSION 194753

received: COMMAND: Wait, there was one other thing...

* * *

Rei woke up, and instantly knew she was in hospital room 217/b. Not just because of the various tell-tale signs – the cracked window pane, the position of the room in relation to the building's exterior, the slightly different imperfections in the paint on the room's walls, the open window and so on – but also because this was the room she was always placed in while recovering from an injury. She also noticed the presence of one Shinji Ikari, currently asleep (part of her mind thought about this and wondered if she could somehow acquire another Shinji Ikari in case this one broke. The rest of her mind told that part that it would no longer have any input into her decision-making process, although it had to admit having two Shinji Ikaris would be... interesting.)

To say that memories of the previous night came flooding in at the sight of the boy would be inaccurate, simply because of the nature of Rei's memory. However, said memories did present themselves for re-inspection as soon as she saw him. She noticed an increase in her body temperature on her cheeks, and confirmed that she was, in fact, blushing.

A breeze blew through the window, and Shinji jerked forwards, grasping for an Evangelion's control panels. He blinked in the afternoon sunlight, clearly recovering from some sort of nightmare.

"Hello, Ikari," Rei said, trying to cut through the boy's nightmare. "It is good to see you are well." The boy looked at her, smiling.

"You too, Ayanami," he replied. "How are you feeling?"

"The painkillers have not fully worn off yet," said Rei. "I expect to be in minor pain when they do."

"Well, that's not good," Shinji said, lamely. They sat in silence for a few minutes, both wishing to speak but being unable to for their own respective reasons. Shinji couldn't work up the courage to speak, and Rei simply didn't know how to continue the conversation. Eventually, they both spoke at the same time.

"So-" "Ikar-" The two looked at each other, willing the other to continue. After another minute of silence (_one minute eight point six seconds_, Rei corrected mentally), Shinji burst out laughing. She looked at him, confused.

"I'm amazed we ever get anything done," he said when he'd calmed down. "What was it you were going to say?"

"I was going to ask why you were here," said Rei. Shinji seemed to visibly deflate at that. _Was that an insult? _she wondered. _I hope that doesn't make him leave. It was... nice, seeing him waiting for me to wake up,_ she realised.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay. Besides, last time I was in here you were around when I woke up, I thought I'd return the favour," Shinji explained, causing another blush, which Rei looked out of the window to hide. "Is that... okay?" he asked, cautiously.

"It is alright," Rei replied. She looked back at him, and smiled again. "Thank you." The boy turned bright red (_Is that what I look like when I "blush"?_) and spluttered. _It is rather amusing I can cause this reaction in him with simple phrases and movements. _She reviewed the episode at her apartment yesterday. _Note to self: Try to recreate that situation as soon as possible._

"Err... Rei?" Shinji said, dragging her out of her totally-not-fantasies.

"Yes, Ikari?" she said.

"You... know your apartment?" he asked. That raised yet another blush. _What is wrong with me today? Is it the painkillers?_ She nodded in reply. "Well," Shinji continued, his own awkwardness causing him to miss Rei's reaction, "I was thinking... that place is kind of... not really somewhere you should live." Part of Rei's mind (the very same one that had been shouted down earlier) lit up as it realised what the boy was getting at. "So... I was thinking... Misato has a spare room, so-"

"Yes," Rei answered before he could finish. "If you were asking me to move in with you and Captain Katsuragi, the answer is yes." Shinji's face lit up, and Rei couldn't help thinking she'd have probably agreed even if she didn't agree with him. Simply imagining the boy's disappointed face caused the sinking feeling she'd learned to associate with guilt and sadness.

"Really?" Shinji said, dumbfounded. "I'll... I kind of need to go tell Misato about that, then..."

* * *

An hour later, Shinji and Misato both stood in front of the Commander's desk. Shinji was making an effort to not appear scared, and failing, while Misato was cursing the very idea of maternal instincts. The Commander sat, as he always did, with his hands folded in front of his face as he stared at them.

"What are the reasons why you want Pilot Ayanami to change residence?" asked the Commander, his voice echoing throughout the room. Apparently, it was designed so that the acoustics would work best with his voice, although that was almost certainly a myth.

"Shinji thinks it'd improve pilot efficiency, sir!" Misato replied. _Damn it_, she thought, _I sound like a raw recruit_. "It would also cut down on paperwork, sir!"

The Commander sat silently for a few minutes. _Was he expecting me to go through everything in detail? I just told the subcommander and Ritsuko all of the details!_ "Request denied," he said, finally. Shinji slumped over slightly, then stood up straight. _Ah, crap. He's doing __**that**__ again._

"The reasons for your denial?" Shinji demanded.

"I do not need to tell someone in your position the details of every decision I make," retorted the Commander.

"On the contrary, you do. Please remember which of us actually kills the Angels, Father," Shinji said.

"You would do well to similarly recall which of us runs the organisation that allows you to do so. I have reasons, and I am not going to tell you them. You are dismissed, Captain Katsuragi, Pilot Ikari." That seemed to be that. Misato turned to leave, but Shinji sat down opposite the Commander and launched a verbal counter-attack. _He even did the thing with his hands_, Misato realised.

"Pursuant to United Nations Resolution seventy slash two-six, those who pilot the weapon system known as the "Evangelion" shall have privileges beyond their rank, due to their unique status. One of those privileges just so happens to be the right to know the reasoning behind any decision which affects **any** Evangelion pilot, regardless of affiliation. We're supposed to look out for each other, Father," he said. Before the Commander could reply, he continued, "**Furthermore**, as per the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, among various other such treaties, it is illegal to keep any person in a situation in which they may suffer want, fear or repression against their will. Ayanami has already said she would like to change her residence, therefore you do not have any legal basis to deny her, especially since I have witnessed the state of her apartment." Misato would later swear that she saw the Commander blink in surprise, even through his opaque glasses. "Article Thirteen, Father. It's kind of important." Shinji lowered his voice, and leaned towards the Commander. "The British are very, very keen on enforcing the Declaration, and I know for a fact that Ayanami has family in the British Evangelion program. Or did you think I didn't do my research after last time we spoke?"

The Commander smiled, unseen. "Impressive, Pilot Ikari," he said. "Very well. Since you have so eloquently argued your point, and since as you said I do not have a legal basis to deny her wishes, she may do as she likes. Keep **that** in mind, Shinji. Now, leave."

Misato took the opportunity to drag Shinji out of the office. They made it a few hallways away before both of them started hyperventilating in panic. "You really did not just do that, did you?" she asked, incredulous.

"I think I did," said Shinji. "Eeep." _Eeep doesn't even **BEGIN** to cover_ _it,_ he thought.

* * *

"So... why did you give in?" asked Fuyutsuki after Misato and Shinji had left. He'd been waiting in one of the office's many deep shadows in case he'd been needed; it wasn't like he needed to do anything else around the place.

"Because he was right," said Gendo. "And if I'd have dragged it out, he'd wouldn't have let it go unless we took measures that would have made him useless."

"So the fact you were genuinely impressed with him had nothing to do with it? Or the fact Rei seemed to want this as well?" Fuyutsuki pointed out.

"I will admit his reaction was... impressive. However, if I started giving in to him every time he stood up to me, I'd never get anything done."

"Are you sure about this? I'm sure you could just tell Rei to drop it..."

"And if I did that I'd risk losing her respect. It would cause far more damage to our plans if I pushed to deny them this than if I just let it happen. Besides, it's not like anything they can do can alter the plan. They are here, and so they will follow the scrolls to the letter," retorted Gendo. Fuyutsuki noticed the use of "our plans"; a subtle reminder of what they both stood to lose if they failed.

"I get the impression all of these little incidents are going to start piling up, old friend," Fuyutsuki replied - "old friend" was a code phrase for "you should probably pay attention to this".

"All of the battles so far have gone precisely as according to the scrolls," said Gendo, brushing off the old professor's worries. "So long as that continues, I don't need to interfere."

"I think we should stay alert, nonetheless," Fuyutsuki said. Gendo elected not to continue the conversation, and pulled up some (real) paperwork. "Oh," he continued, recalling something, "What about the Jet Alone demonstration next week?" Gendo looked up. "Have you decided on a solution?"

"I will have Akagi deal with it," said Gendo. "Go and tell her to prepare." That was a clear dismissal, so Fuyutsuki took the chance to get out of the office for once.

* * *

Shinji fidgeted nervously as he waited for Rei. One of the nurses had told him that she was going through a last-minute checkup, so he'd taken a seat in the waiting room. He stifled a yawn; even though he'd been in his own bed last night, he couldn't sleep. The nightmares were just too vivid, the Angels blurring into each other and occasionally becoming his Father. That wasn't the worst bit. The worst bit was whenever Rei was involved. He slapped himself, trying to force his mind away from those dreams, but the thought of the melted entry plug just wouldn't go away, even after running through several equations. Even Misato hadn't been able to cheer him up since the battle four days ago.

He was about to get up and go look for the girl to make sure she was alright, when the doors to the waiting room opened and Rei walked in, wearing her school uniform. _She's alright_, he thought, and the painful thoughts dissipated.

"Hey Ayanami," he said, smiling. "Ready to go?" She nodded, so he stood up and motioned to the door.

"Ikari," said Rei as they walked out, "Why are you shivering?"

Shinji jumped a little. _I'm... shaking? What?_ "It's... nothing," he said. "Just a bit of a nightmare last night." He looked at his hand. _I really am shaking. I –_ His mind was cut off as Rei took his hand. He turned to her, surprised, to see her smiling.

"It is okay, Ikari," she said. "You do not have to fight alone any more. I will protect you." _What? Did she really just say..._ It should say something about Shinji's mind that he was more readily willing to accept forcing one of the single most powerful men on the planet to back down than to recognise someone being nice to him.

At a loss for words, he simply grasped Rei's hand and smiled back. _I will __**not**__ let those nightmares become real_, he decided as they walked out of NERV.

_No matter the cost_.

* * *

Misato had left earlier in the day – something to do with some event going on in the Old Tokyo ruins – so they had to collect all of Rei's things and walk back to the apartment. Rei was aware she could just ask for a lift from one of the bodyguard units or NERV's command staff, but for some reason she felt like walking with Shinji for a bit. Neither of them spoke during the journey to Rei's old apartment; Shinji was still stunned into silence and Rei simply didn't have anything more to add. Besides, neither of them wanted to spoil the mood.

Shinji was a bit disheartened by the fact that all of Rei's worldly possessions could fit into one backpack and a pair of plastic bags. _She really doesn't have any clothes besides her uniforms,_ he thought as she packed. To his credit, he was making a concerted effort to not look at her clothes, but the fact he was a teenage boy led to a certain inevitability. He took the bags from Rei as she finished, and they set off again.

"So..." he said as they walked, "Do you have any preferences for dinner later?" Rei gave him a blank look. "You know... curry? Udon? I've probably got some chicken somewhere, we could-"

"I cannot eat meat, Ikari," interrupted Rei. "It is a medical condition." To tell the truth, she honestly didn't know what any of the foods he listed actually were; the only reason she knew of their existence was from listening to the inane chatter of their classmates.

"Something vegetarian, then," said Shinji, brightly. "I could probably whip up some sort of stir-fry thing..."

"Whatever you deem fit, Ikari," Rei replied, giving the boy a slight smile so he didn't think she was just brushing him off. Shinji smiled back, and they walked on in silence.

* * *

"Now that we've all eaten, it's time to hold the official press release to announce the Jet Alone program. Ladies and gentlemen, please be upstanding for Mr. Takumi, head of the project." Applause rose from the assembled guests, clustered around the tables. Misato chose not to join in; the food had been terrible compared to her or Shinji's cooking, and she'd already met the man walking on to the stage. _He was an asshole back in college,_ she thought, _and he's still an asshole now. Fucking business students._

Takumi raised his hands for silence, which also seemed to signal his staff to bring up the first slide of his presentation. _Not one of these again,_ Misato despaired. "Many of you are probably wondering: "What's this guy actually selling?". Well, I have the pleasure of officially revealing the true nature of the Jet Alone project," said the man, barely audible despite the batteries of speakers either side of him. Another slide clicked on, and there was a carefully-faked gasp amongst the guests. The picture on the screen was concept art of a bipedal machine, the size of an Evangelion, fighting through waves of tanks. "I give you: The Jet Alone! One hundred and twenty metres tall, equipped with the latest in weapons and armour, and fully autonomous! No pilots to suffer mental trauma, or to "go berserker" and level a city! We at the Pan-Pacific Engineering Company do not believe in forcing children to fight!" This caused some laughter. Again, most of it was fake. The presentation clicked over to the next slide, showing the Jet Alone robot helping a construction crew assemble an office tower. "The Jet Alone is not just a weapon, either! While our good friends at NERV refuse to share their three-d assembly technology with us, I assure you that Jet Alone's own patented rapid fabrication technology can do the job just as well." That was the point where Misato gave up, and elected to catch up on some sleep.

When she woke up, the presentation was just wrapping up. She could tell from the kitten on the screen holding a sign saying "Any questions?". It somehow managed to be entirely drained of cuteness. Ritsuko was speaking, from beside her.

"-out an AT Field, how do you expect it to last five minutes in combat? Even Unit Seven can't take as much fire as you suggest you little toy can without its AT Field. No offence intended, Admiral," she said.

"Ah!" said Takumi, somehow managing to actually make "ah!" sound like a word, "Well, I admit we've not quite cracked the AT Field problem yet, but we have a team of the best scientific minds on the planet working on it. Besides, unlike an Evangelion, Jet Alone doesn't have to work alone. There's no risk of the machine "going berserker", so conventional forces are free to give it close-range support." Misato glanced at Admiral Jones, who'd been assigned a table to himself. While he looked calm on the surface, she could almost feel the anger radiating off of him. The other members of the audience had also noticed, and carefully refrained from laughing at that last jab. Beside her, Ritsuko was also about to burst – the jab about his science team being "the best on the planet" had hit some of her buttons.

Misato spoke up before someone got killed. "Leaving aside the tactical necessities of leaving a lot of space around a giant, city-destroying robot, how much is one of these things going to cost?" Takumi stuttered a little. _He didn't expect __**that**__ one? Did he do all of this just to score some cheap points against NERV or something?_

"Erm... Well... The cost isn't quite finalised yet, buuut... thecurrentestimateistenbillionEuros," he spat out. _No wonder he panicked a little. Ten billion Euros? You could buy a fleet of PAK FA Su-Fifties for that, and still have enough money left over to buy an aircraft carrier to put them on. _"I think that's all the time we have for questions today," Takumi continued, forestalling any reaction. "We'll convene tomorrow for the demonstration."

* * *

It had taken some time for Shinji to move his equipment from the spare room into his own room, and he was seriously beginning to consider just using the apartment next door. No-one else seemed to live in the building, after all, and he'd been forced to dismantle most of the bulkier items just so he could get to his bed. _Oh well,_ he thought, _it's not like I actually need a Burgess effector right now. NERV has five of the damned things, I'm sure the MAGI won't mind me using one. And I honestly have no idea what this thing is supposed to do. It's like I just glued a bunch of circuit boards and vacuum tubes together or something._

"Do you require assistance?" asked Rei from behind him. He raised his head from the machine he was assembling, and hit his head on the cover.

"No, thanks," he said. "How are you doing with the unpacking?"

"I am finished," Rei replied. "Also, are you aware there is a penguin in the apartment?"

"Oh yeah," Shinji said, burying himself back in the machine, "That's Pen-Pen. You'll get used to him, he pretty much takes care of himself. Just don't interrupt him when he's taking a bath; he won't let anyone use the bathroom until he's done."

"That is something I wanted to ask you about, Ikari," said Rei from behind him. He finished trying to find out what the machine actually did (as far as he could tell it seemed to be some sort of combination tea making machine / data storage bank), stood up and turned around. Rei was standing in the doorway.

Completely naked.

_Not again,_ thought Shinji as he span back around and pretended to make some adjustments to the machine.

"When do you think he will be finished in the bathroom?" Rei continued, apparently oblivious.

"I... I don't know," Shinji stammered. "He's normally a good hour or so in there, so you can probably just put y...your c-clothes back on."

Rei was silent for a moment. "Oh!" she gasped, surprised. _Wait, did she really just do that?_ "I... I apologise, Ikari!" she said, and he heard her walk back into her room. _I'm not going to survive this, am I?_ he thought, despondently.

* * *

_-too slow, need to move FASTER why isn't the Eva responding she's DYING in there come ON move FASTER -_

_and the Angel's beam struck him in the side why is it still alive right arm useless MOVE IT -_

_another Angel right in front of him didn't he kill this one already draw the knife and stab it into the core only the right arm didn't respond it's still useless use the left instead -_

_whip boring through his left arm the final Angel floating off to the side boxed in need a WEAPON need to RUN need to KILL -_

_made it to her Eva Angels are still out there but can't do anything just want to be by her but can't get the plug out CAN'T GET IT OUT CAN'T GET IT OUT STAB IT she's the only thing that matters right now he's going to die anyway -_

_plug's out but it looks melted need to get down need to open it NEED to see if she's okay NEED to see HER smile -_

_by the plug but the hatch isn't coming off PULL IT OFF NO TIME NEED TO BE IN THERE NOW but it isn't coming off COME OFF DAMN YOU-_

_it's off don't know where it went but she's not in there WHERE IS SHE I need to see her PLEASE BE ALIVE-_

_she's dead can see the body is that a body that has to be a body can't look at it or I'll go mad please don't make me look at it-_

_I failed I failed IfailedIfailedfailedfailedfailedfailed-_

_Father why are you standing there why didn't you DO ANYTHING you were THERE you were supposed to DO SOMETHING please just DO SOMETHING I'll do whatever you want just FIX THIS FATHER-_

_and Father opens his mouth and just says it was all my fault it can't be it was I wasn't fast enough I couldn't fight them all failure just like the rest of the time why do I try I'll just fail again and now SHE'S by Father and she hates me because I failed and-_

-and Shinji screamed.

* * *

Rei was awake and moving before her mind could even process what was going on. _That was Shi- Ikari's voice,_ she realised. _Has an assassin infiltrated the apartment? _She paused on the way out of the room to scan for a weapon. There were plenty, but few that would be useful. _No time to take a chair leg._ She was in Shinji's room before he'd even stopped screaming. No-one else was inside, and Shinji didn't seem to be hurt, although he did seem distressed. She relaxed a little.

"What's wrong, Ikari?" she asked, walking over to the boy. He was shaking again, and could barely turn his head to look at her.

"You're... alive," he said. _That should be obvious. Did he suffer some sort of mental trauma? _"You're okay." The shaking subsided a little, although his breath was still short and ragged.

"Nothing has happened since we retired to our rooms, Ikari," Rei pointed out.

"It... was just a nightmare," said Shinji, shaking his head. "Sorry for waking you up." He started shivering again. "It was... you were dead and **he** was there and I couldn't do anything and-" _So it __**was**__ mental trauma. _Acting on some instinct, she hugged the boy. He froze solid. _At least he's not shaking any more,_ she thought, dumbfounded.

"It's okay," she said. "I'm okay, we killed the Angel." She pulled away slightly, so he could move. "Look at me, Shinji," she ordered. Shivering slightly again, Shinji slowly raised his head and made eye contact. "I'm alive. Take a breath, and calm down." She held him close again, simply because it felt so good the first time, and listened to him go through the breathing exercise. _I will act on instinct more often,_ she decided. _It seems to have worked, although I do not know if I should have called him "Shinji"._

The boy's breathing fell into a slow rhythm. _Has he gone to sleep?_

"Ikari?" she whispered. No response. _He has. That's... I do not have a word to describe that. "Cute", perhaps? _Despite everything, she smiled. _I have been doing that more often. Interesting. I am also quite tired. The clock indicates it is two AM. Should I just leave him here? If I do so, he may have another nightmare. I... do not wish him to suffer any more trauma. _She mentally reviewed their earlier conversation in the waiting room. _This has happened at least once before. I will need to observe him closely._ She sighed, and barely caught herself before she fell asleep. _I wonder if this is some manifestation of the neurological damage that all Evangelion pilots suffer? I will need to find medical details on the others. Michael's co-pilot suffers from nightmares like this. I should probably sleep now._

Rei slowly got onto the bed, careful to not wake up Shinji, and lay down with the boy. She was asleep before she felt herself hit the pillow.

* * *

It was about 2am before Misato managed to get away from the impromptu party being held in the compound's canteen and stumble back into her and Ritsuko's assigned quarters. That wasn't precisely what happened – it was more like Ritsuko dragged her away – but that was how she would remember it in the morning.

"Who does that ashole thing he ish anyway?" she slurred. Maybe the sixth tequila shot hadn't been a good idea. As for whoever came up with mixing them with an energy drink...

"Which asshole?" asked Ritsuko. She wasn't exactly sober herself, but she wasn't quite as bad as Misato. She'd only had four of the energy tequilas. "There were... five or six back there."

"**That** asshole!" Misato said. "Y'know... Tacky!"

"Yeah, the décor really needs some work in that place..." replied Ritsuko. "Then again, they pretty much only started turning it into a bar like five hours ago."

"Nonononono! Tacky! The big business asshole! Just because he managed to build a giant robot he thinks he can muscle in on our turf!" Misato shouted, "And to hear him go on and on andonandon! So the pilots occasionally go berserk. At least their hearts are in the right place! Shhhinji would **die** of shame if he'd heard that asshole talk!"

"That... would be bad," said Ritsuko. "We'd be down a pilot."

"Why d'y'think I didn't bring him? **Gah!** Someone should put that asshole in his place! I know, how about we call up Unit One tomorrow and have Shinji stamp the shit out of the asshat?" Ritsuko looked at her friend. That was... probably a good idea.

"Speaking of Shhhinjii, who's idea was it to let Rei move in with you two?" Ritsuko asked. The Commander had been furious about it.

"Oh, that was those two. They'rrrrreeeeee iiiiinnnnn LOOOOVEEEE!" Misato sang. Or rather, attempted to sing, and failed rather badly. "It's, like, reeaaalllly cute! He got all protective and suuuper-serious when the Commanananader tried to say "NO!" to them." The thought was nearly enough to sober Ritsuko up. She really didn't know what to think of that little bombshell. More importantly, she'd have to tell the Commander about it.

"So that'sh why he was so **furious** before we left," she said. "Didn't even say gooodBYE properly, that asshole!"

"What does Tacky have to do with those two?" Misato asked, collapsing onto one of the sofas. She started snoring nearly instantly. Ritsuko looked at her, shook her head, and collapsed onto the other sofa.

* * *

Hey people.  
There's going to be a short break between this and the next update because... well, I kind of have no time to actually write this at the moment. Apologies. I had intended this to be the full chapter, rather than breaking it up into two (or maybe three?) parts, but hey things happen. Let me know what you think of this one - especially the weirdly-written bits. No I can't think of a better name for them.


	12. Chapter 12 (Part 2 of 2)

Shinji woke up as the morning sun streamed in from the window. Or rather, what little of the window wasn't blocked by scientific equipment. There was something on the bed pretty much on top of him – did he really have so little space that he'd been forced to... _ah_.

Memories of the previous night flooded in. He opened his eyes and looked to his right, and sure enough there was a rather familiar mop of blue hair. _So,_ he thought, _How do I proceed from here? Panic, while tempting, would wake her up and then I'd have to find some way out of the awkwardness that would result. Would it really be awkward, though? She hugged me, not the other way round. Also, this is... really, really nice. It's actually kinda relaxing. _There was nothing to actually panic about; she was safe, which for some reason had become a huge thing in his mind, and for once nothing seemed to -

His phone started ringing. Normally, this wouldn't be too much of a problem, but it was playing the ringtone he'd set for incoming calls from NERV. A scramble alert. _Oh fuck no..._

Of course, Rei chose that time to wake up as well. This morning was going to be **fun**...

* * *

"The **fuck** is going out there?" stormed Admiral Jones as Jet Alone stampeded through the VIP parking area. The morning had started off terrible, and seemed intent on getting worse.

"It... it's not responding to any of the commands! The on-board response system... what's happening!?" shouted Takumi, the latter part directed at some luckless technician, who just shrugged their shoulders and got back to work. "Damn it all! Someone FIX THIS!"

"Call up Longbow and put a spike through that bastard's head!" called Misato.

"NO!" said Takumi and Jones, in unison. They glared at each other, and Takumi backed down. "That thing's got an on-board nuke plant, and it's not worth spreading radioactive material around," continued Jones. "It's not an Eva, it won't get far."

"It's changing course!" reported one of the generic technicians. "Looks like it's headed for... Tokyo-two! And its on-board reactor..." The tech's eyes widened. "Sir... it's going for a self-destruct!"

"Shit, shit, SHIT!" shouted Takumi. "Damn it, we're going to **have** to call in a Longbow strike if it gets too close!" Jones pulled out a mobile phone and started talking into it.

"We have an Evangelion about a hundred klicks away," said Misato. "But it probably won't be ready for launch..." She pulled out her own phone and dialled a number.

Jones finished his own conversation, shaking his head. "Longbow's definitely out of the question for now," he said, "We've got three sats in orbit, but the UN says no until it's the only option. Doesn't that thing have an override code or manual shutdown or something?"

"I tried the override code – fuck what my bosses say – but it didn't respond," replied Takumi. Ritsuko seemed rather shocked at the news, and pulled out her own phone. "There's a manual override on the inside, but... well, that's inside the giant rampaging robot, and part of the self-destruct procedure involves flooding all the crawlspaces with radiation..."

"That... is quite possibly the stupidest thing I have ever heard." said Jones. "Alright. I've got a frigate parked a few kilometres away, and several cruise missiles in the tubes. If we can get someone close enough, maybe..."

"Knee-capping a giant robot sounds like a brilliant idea," said Misato, snapping her phone shut. "Unit One can be here in ten minutes. Does anyone have a radiation suit I can borrow?"

* * *

Shinji took a deep breath as he synchronised with Unit 01 -

and exhaled as a gigantic, nigh-indestructible war machine. That, and a fourteen-year-old boy sitting inside said war machine. The clamps on his shoulders pulled him up into the hold of a massive transport aircraft, and he suppressed a brief flicker of annoyance at the discomfort. Misato had briefed him on the plan before he'd even gotten into his plug suit – _damned uncomfortable things –_ and he knew exactly what he needed to do. For a given value of "exactly", anyway.

* * *

A pair of RGM-84/KK Harpoon missiles streaked through the sky, guided inexorably to their targets by a rather small pair of red dots focussed on the rampaging Jet Alone's knees. While it was probable that Unit 01 was faster than Jet Alone, Admiral Jones was not taking any chances.

As they neared their target the special auxiliary boosters kicked in, pushing the missiles past their nominal top speed into the realm of Mach 1. The effect when the missiles, with their 200 kilogramme solid alloy tips, hit the robot was quite impressive. Jet Alone's legs from the feet up to the knee were left standing still.

The rest of the robot fell forwards, its knee joints obliterated by the impact.

That was when the clamps holding Unit 01 up in the sky were released, and quite a few tonnes of angry cyborg... thing plummeted towards the ground, a radiation-suited figure clutched in one of its hands.

* * *

"I'm in," reported Misato as she strode through Jet Alone's crawlspaces, a modified rifle held loosely in her right hand. Whoever sabotaged the robot could still be on board, after all.

Fortunately for the unknown saboteur, they were not actually present, and Misato had a quiet walk right up to the main power conduit. All she had to do was pull that lever **there** and...

"Um... did that actually do anything? It's kinda getting hotter in here!" she called.

"The temperature doesn't seem to be falling. Are you sure you pulled the right lever?" replied Takumi from the control centre. Misato rolled her eyes, then slapped her head in embarrassment.

"Yeah, I got the wrong one," she said, walking over to the right lever and pulling it out. There was a hiss as the reactor's control rods fell back into place – the designers not being stupid enough to have control rods that extended past the robot's armour – and Misato swore the room was already getting cooler.

"So..." she said, walking towards the exit hatch, "how am I supposed to get back?"

* * *

**(Alternate ending:)**

"Yeah, I got the wrong one," she said, walking over to **that** lever... no, **THAT** one damn it we don't want to drag this bit out much longer, and pulled gods damn it woman you got the wrong one **again** look do I have to come down there because I will do it!

So yeah she finally pulled the right gods damned lever and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth or something. Maybe I can get on with the actually interesting parts of the story now? What's that you say? They're still here? Oh like I give a damn I'm not being paid enough for this. Okay, **fine**, we'll say this was an out-take or something. Tune in next time folks, I promise it'll involve fish! No seriously that's what it says here why did my agent even get me this job, I swear this thing's written by a bloody five-year-old...

* * *

Today's weird out-take thing brought to you by a rather annoying headache.

I have to apologise for the shortness of this chapter; I was intending to get at least as far as the next major plot point (yes this story does have a plot and I have some plans for the next few chapters), but between the aforementioned headache and various other things I haven't been able to write as much. Rather paradoxically, I find that the more updates I upload, the more I actually feel like writing, so here you go. Have fun with it.


	13. Chapter 13

"_Alright, you're doing good, just keep it level..."_ said the instructor over the radio link, breaking Michael from his concentration. _"Not like that! NOT LIKE THAT! Pull up!"_ He sighed, and turned off the radio. He was doing fine without the instructor, and it wasn't like anything important was in danger.

He closed his eyes, leaned back...

and turned on the front camera of the Taranis drone he'd been given to test. The HUD flashed behind his eyelids, telling him he was about three seconds from crashing. No problem. Up, and roll just to show up the instructor, then bank round past Unit 07. _Why don't I show off a little more? _he thought, slightly conscious of Rose's presence in the audience. Pull up again, engines off, hit the landing flaps – stall warning, _that's what I want_, flip over on to the plane's back, lower the gear, about to crash, _but I do have enough altitude to pull this off_. He focussed, and fired the drone's orbital manoeuvring thrusters. The drone flipped -

-SYNCHRONISATION FEED LOST-

_That could be a problem._ He'd forgotten that the altimeter showed sea level as zero, not the altitude of the landing platform he'd been aiming for. Said platform was strapped on top of Unit 07's nuclear reactor, as part of some technology demonstration or other. Which is why when he'd tried to flip the drone he hadn't had as much space as he thought he had, and now the drone was probably wrecked. He unplugged the cables from his arm socket, pushing the replacement arm back in as he climbed out of the entry plug.

"What the hell was **that**?" asked the instructor pointedly as Michael tried to stride past him, fiddling with one of the bolts on his arm.

"I was trying to see if I could do a vertical landing," Michael replied. "It could be useful."

"You were showing off!" said the instructor. Michael winced; he may be in operational command of the task force, but the instructor reported to the Admiral. "A VTOL landing doesn't need a fancy flip or whatever it was you were doing out there. Not to mention that crash..."

"I made a mistake," Michael admitted, "But I think I'm getting the hang of this."

"You started three hours ago. You are **not** getting the hang of this," the instructor said, firmly. "You can fly, and I admit you can put that drone through some tricks, but you're not even close to qualified."

"I'm going to have to agree," said Rose from behind Michael. "That was nearly impressive... right up until you pancaked the thing right on top of a live nuclear reactor."

"Wait, it's **live**?" Michael said, eyes widening. "Aren't we down for maintenance?"

"There was some problem or other with the Jet Alone thing, but it's sorted. We got a standby order," Rose explained, "so the techs sealed it back up. It was pretty much ready anyway."

"And no-one told me this because...?" asked Michael. "It's not like I'm supposed to be in command here or anything." He nodded at the instructor, who took the hint and left.

"You were busy," said Rose. "No need to bug you. Now you're out, we'll call the Admiral." She took his hand and pulled him through the building to the command centre.

"I still need that report about that prisoner interrogation," Michael protested as he was dragged along.

"That's where we're going after this," replied Rose. She waved at one of the technicians, who started the video call to the Admiral's ship. There was a short, awkward pause as they waited for him to respond, but eventually Jones' face filled the screen.

"Report," he said.

"Unit Seven is apparently ready for deployment," said Michael, "and preliminary tests of the Anima device were successful. Testing of the Taranis drone... resulted in some damage."

"You crashed it, didn't you?" asked Admiral Jones, pointedly. Michael sighed.

"Yeah, I crashed it," he said. Laughter came from around the room. "That said, it seems to fly pretty well. I managed to do a few flips and rolls. When they fit a couple of missiles onto it, it should still be adequate."

"Alright," said the Admiral. "I'll be linking up with the UN's Pacific Fleet on the way back; there's a couple of paperwork things I need to clear up, so you'll be in command for another week or two past the end of the month." Michael nodded.

"Safe voyage," he said, and signalled the tech to close the link.

* * *

Rose led the way to the makeshift cell they'd been keeping their prisoner in. The guards stood aside automatically as the approached – _I'll have to reprimand them later_, Michael thought – and they strode into the small room. Inside was a table, a chair, and the prisoner, who flinched as the door opened.

"I thought I was getting a report," Michael said, taking note of the prisoner's state; there didn't seem to be any physical wounds on the man, which was good.

"You are. From him," answered Rose. "We had a talk, and he's decided the best way to survive the next week or so is to play nice."

"That's right!" said the prisoner. "Bastards weren't paying me to keep quiet, anyway."

"Hmm," began Michael as he sat on the table, his mind suddenly in overdrive. "An American? Former military, probably a mercenary. I'd say you left the service in... oh-six? Maybe oh-five? Before the invasion, anyway." The prisoner stared at him. "It's the way you all moved when we fought you," he explained, "You're not used to having reliable backup. That told me you were ex-military. The accent's obviously American, and besides you're sitting like Americans always do in these situations – leaning slightly back, arms across your stomach. It's a Hollywood thing, you think it makes you look defiant. On top of that, you don't seem overly resentful. That means you left the service before the invasion, and didn't agree with it."

"Impressive," said the prisoner. "Are you going to tell me who hired me and why?"

"Challenge accepted," Michael said. "Who? I'm going to say NERV or some affiliated body. You wouldn't join up with American resurgents, and the only other organisation that might want us dead is NERV. Why? That's harder, but it's not because they actively wanted us dead. That would be a bonus, but if it was the focus you'd have done a much better job. That means..." His eyes widened. "A distraction. Another operation was going on at the same time. There's any number of possible targets – anything from the uranium in Unit Seven's reactor to the frequency for the Longbow satellites. You wouldn't be able to fire them, but you could de-orbit an entire satellite..."

"There were two teams, yes," confirmed the prisoner. "I have no idea what the other team was doing, but our job was to do whatever they said. Their leader told us to go kill you guys, and the rest is history."

"Rose, if you haven't already get every detail from this guy. I need to go send a message to the Admiral, and find out what exactly they took," Michael ordered as he ran out of the cell.

"See, I didn't tell-" he heard before the door closed.

* * *

Shinji sat at the dining table, sketching. He'd never exactly been artistically talented, but he'd had to learn how to draw over the years. After the third or fourth time he'd picked up a bit of equipment from the local garage and found it didn't actually look anything like he wanted it to, he'd bought some pencils and a lot of paper, and had sat down until things on the paper started looking vaguely like they did in his head. The design he was sketching at the moment looked like a child's caricature, but it would suffice.

He looked up as Rei sat beside him, a book in her hands. She'd found his collection of books before he'd gotten back from the Jet Alone deployment (_Not that they even needed me,_ Shinji thought bitterly), and had picked up one of them.

"Nineteen eighty-four?" Shinji asked when he saw the cover. Rei nodded. "If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – forever." She looked confused at that – she was only about halfway through by the look of it. "It's a quote," he explained. "It's an interesting book. I must have read it half a dozen times."

"The concept is interesting," agreed Rei. "What are you drawing?"

"Oh, this?" he said. "I'm thinking of mounting some cameras and other sensors on a quad-rotor drone. Maybe fit a laser system or something too – the MAGI told me the thing I did before the last battle actually had a slight effect, so with a few hundred of these we might be able to weaken an Angel's AT Field enough for conventional weapons to start hurting it."

"It does not look aerodynamically stable," Rei noted. Shinji smiled.

"I'm a pretty terrible artist," he admitted. "But the MAGI should be able to get the general gist." Misato strode through the door of the apartment, and made a beeline towards the beer fridge. Shinji counted the number of beers she downed before finally walking over to where the two children sat. He winced. _Five? Must have been a pretty terrible report_, he thought.

"I have good news, and I have bad news," Misato began.

"Bad news first," said Shinji, automatically.

"Well, the bad news is that I'm going to have to drag you away from this domestic bliss again the day after tomorrow," she said. Rei actually looked slightly disappointed at that. "The good news is that we're getting another Evangelion unit. The German Branch has finally decided that Unit Two would do more good over here than over there, and this morning the UN voted to make Tokyo-three an exception to the Vatican Treaty. We'll be going over to the UN Pacific Fleet on Monday where we'll guide them in. NERV wants an officer in the fleet because the Commander's a paranoid asshole, and he also decided to send a pilot along in order to, and I quote, "acclimatise the new pilot to their future surroundings." That means you, Shinji."

"The Commander's strategy does not appear to make sense," said Rei. "Pilot Ikari is currently the only pilot in Tokyo-three with a combat-ready Evangelion. If an Angel were to attack the city, we would be effectively defenceless."

"I'm not exactly willing to risk that," Shinji said. "Unit Zero's going to be out of action for a while, and-"

"And if an Angel does attack the city we'll be three hours away. The city can hold for that long, even with the damage done by the last one. The Commander deems the risk acceptable," countered Misato. "Besides, it's an order, one he made clear that you cannot refuse."

"Damn it," Shinji sighed. "Fine. Like I have a choice."

"You'll like the new pilot, I promise," said Misato. "Besides, I've already invited your friends from school along. It should be fun."

"You should not lie, Captain Katsuragi," said Rei. "It is unlikely that Shinji will like Pilot Sorhyu." Shinji glanced at her. "We have met previously. I found her to be remarkably arrogant and abrasive," she explained.

"You say that, Rei, but you're probably going to end up sharing a room with her," said Misato. "The Commander made the point that since we already have two pilots in the same apartment, we may as well make it three." Rei fell silent, considering this information.

"If that is the case, I will simply move into Ikari's room," she argued. Shinji gulped, and moved towards the kitchen. This conversation was going somewhere he did not want to go.

"I'll... just go start dinner, then," he said, excusing himself. Rei looked at Misato with her usual serious expression.

"Did I say something wrong?" she asked. Misato got up silently, walked over to the fridge, and pulled out another six-pack of beers.

* * *

_Nothing but screaming and roaring and it was right in front of her and they said there'd be air support where's the air support get the shield up but now it's doing nothing and it's using it's **own severed arm **as a weapon hits her across the face once twice stab it with the knife but it just keeps coming they told me it would hurt why does it hurt this much can't keep going -_

Rose woke up, screaming. Weak sunlight filtered through the curtains as she sat up. _Again?_ she thought to herself as she went through the familiar routine. Get out of bed, go into kitchen, grab a drink, turn on the news and wait for Mike to turn up. He knew to give her a few moments alone before making sure she was alright. The fact she'd once put a bullet through his leg probably had something to do with that. He was normally pretty bad at taking hints. _It sounds so cruel when I put it like that, _she considered while she waited, _but he started it. Payback for St. Louis._ That was the more vindictive side of her talking, and she knew it. 

Michael staggered in, pistol held loosely at his side. "Again?" he asked, the ritual demanding he ask. She nodded, and he held her. She felt... conflicted. On the one hand, this was the boy who'd ripped her limb from limb, who'd torn her nation apart like it was nothing, who deserved a bullet to the face more than anything else. On the other, he'd never been anything but... nice when actually talking to her – or anyone else for that matter. She had a hard time hating him, especially with some of the things she'd found out over the years. 

Not that it mattered. It never had.

* * *

Admiral Oliver Jones was not a complicated man. Considering the world he lived in, that was quite an achievement. He was not an especially political animal, and he had nothing but disdain for the games MI6 played behind the scenes. It should be noted here that neither of these things prohibited him from playing his own games.

Regardless, when he strode onto the bridge of the UNS _Over The Rainbow_, he did so with the full knowledge that he was not going to enjoy his stay despite the rather amazing shine of the afternoon sun on the water. Everything about the fleet's mission stank of politics and shadow games, from the fleet's mere existence to the lack of amphibious equipment for Unit 02 to the presence of a certain UN Special Inspector. Luckily, it wasn't his fleet to command, so as far as he was concerned none of that was his business.

"Admiral Borodin. It's good to see you again," he greeted with a salute. His counterpart – a former submarine officer turned surface captain in the wake of Second Impact – returned the salute.

"Admiral Jones. A pleasure," Borodin said. "Have you come to get this bloody piece of junk away from my fleet?"

Jones smiled carefully. "Unfortunately, Unit Two's a lot bigger than Unit Seven. It wouldn't fit," he said. "Even if it did, I've got orders to head back to Gibraltar ASAP. I'll be with the fleet for a day or two, if you don't mind. It'd save a few days in refuelling later."

"Your _Lancaster_ was never designed for the sort of work you've been putting her through. I'd have thought Her Majesty would have given you something a bit newer," commented Borodin.

"She does alright," said Jones. "Besides, it's not like every other ship in the fleet is just lying at port with nothing to do. We've got task forces pretty much everywhere, and even with the American Arleigh Burkes... Hell, you remember Saint Lawrence? We must have lost half the fleet in that battle alone."

"I was on board the _Admiral Spiridonov_ when the American fighter wing came in. We got two, and then one of those damned Hornets put a Harpoon right through the engines," said Borodin, motioning to the exit. "We'll go have some tea while we catch up."

Jones followed Borodin off of the bridge. "You remember that crazy French bastard? Captain... Duval? Durant? I can never remember. Rammed one of those stealth frigates right into the middle of the entire American-" he cut off as he walked into Borodin's back. The Russian Admiral was glaring at an unshaven man who'd appeared in the corridor.

"Inspector Kaji," Borodin spat. "How many times do I have to tell you that you're not allowed on my bridge?"

"I thought I'd pay the valiant Admiral Jones a visit," said the Inspector. "There's some paperwork we need to get done."

"Later," Jones said, waving the man off. Borodin pushed past the Inspector, and Jones followed. "So anyway, this French guy somehow manages to get his frigate right next to the American carrier – this was later on in the battle, when things got a little confusing – and he thinks it's the _Charles De Gaulle_, so he pulls off and only when he's nearly back in our own lines does he realise that it was actually the _Carl Vinson_. I swear, that French bastard pulled the tightest one-eighty I have ever seen!"

Both of the Admirals laughed as they walked, engrossed in stories they'd each heard a thousand times. Work could wait.

* * *

Shinji watched the sunrise on the water as the Mi-8 transport helicopter approached the fleet. He knew it was an Mi-8 because Kensuke hadn't shut up about the damned thing since they'd transferred from a NERV VTOL (apparently a Chinese Z-20, whatever that was) at an airbase on some island that he couldn't remember the name of. _Rei would probably know_, he thought. _Kensuke would, too, but if I asked him..._

He'd made that mistake when they'd transferred. When he'd asked why they were getting out of one aircraft to get into another, Kensuke had launched into a massive description of the VTOL and how it was actually quite limited in range. After a while, he'd been tempted to steal Misato's gun and shoot either himself or Kensuke. Toji had just ignored the whole thing. The jock was a bit preoccupied with trying not to throw up. 

_At least it's a nice sunrise._ Normally, he'd have been terrified of the unfathomable depths right below him, but considering he'd spent most of the previous day trying to get his drone design to actually work rather than crash every time the MAGI simulated it, he was more in a mood to just enjoy being outside. By the time Rei had gotten out of the tests Father kept putting her through, it had been late enough at night that the city was almost deserted. He smiled as he remembered the walk back to the apartment. _We'll have to do something like that again. It was... nice._

With that thought in mind, he slipped his headphones on, queued up several Beethoven collections and just enjoyed the sunrise.

* * *

UN Special Inspector Ryoji Kaji stepped into what was supposed to be a secure, locked room. He had spent several hours making sure that he was the only person who could get in, which made it slightly strange that a grey-haired middle-aged man was currently sitting on his bed aiming a pistol at his face. Being the highly-trained, experienced secret agent that he was, he was able to keep his face relatively still. 

"Okay," he began, "I have to know... how?" 

"Honestly?" said Admiral Jones, "You left the window open." Kaji sighed, and sat down opposite the Admiral. 

"Why are you here?" he asked. 

"Two things. Firstly, did you or yours have anything to do with the raid on my base a few weeks back?" demanded the Admiral. 

"I knew about it," Kaji admitted. "No idea what they were after, though." 

"I'll take your word for it. Although..." Jones leaned back, the pistol moving slightly to compensate. "That still leaves the matter of a certain item that was stolen from that base. An item we had under heavy guard right up until that day, when we were supposed to launch it into space. I'm pretty sure you know what I'm talking about." He motioned to Kaji's footlocker with his free hand. "That locker's a lot more secure than this room." 

"I'm delivering a certain item to Commander Ikari, yes. I don't know what-" 

Jones cut Kaji off. "Don't lie to me. I've been playing this game longer than you've been alive. Now, I know you can't give me that... item, and I'd have to shoot you if I tried to take it. So, here's what we're going to do. You will deliver that item as planned, and then you will send a copy of every report you write directly to me. Then, when the time comes... you will get that item back for me." 

Kaji sighed again. "I don't suppose I have to ask what happens if I refuse?" he said. Jones shook his head. "Alright. Like I even have a choice."

"A pleasure doing business with you," said Admiral Jones as he stood up and walked out of Kaji's room. 

* * *

"-and that's the _Over the Rainbow_!" Kensuke shouted, waking Shinji from his nap. "She's the only _Unity_-class in service!" There was a brief pause the nerd's otherwise incessant chatter, before he noticed something else to shout about. "Oh my god! That's the _Lancaster_! One of just two Type twenty-three Frigates that survived the Impact Wars! She's supposed to be the flagship of the Royal Navy's Evangelion Task Force – that thing can carry an Eva on the specially-modified flight deck..." 

"A bunch of toy ships," dismissed Misato. "A single Eva could take the whole lot." That shut Kensuke up until the helicopter landed on the flight deck of the weirdly-named carrier.

"Why is it called the _Over the Rainbow_, anyway?" asked Shinji as they stepped off of the aircraft.

"It was a joke some wise guy made when they were designing the ship," said Misato. "It's a joint British, Russian, German and Japanese design, and there were a lot of political problems with getting it into service. Someone said "It's like the pot of gold over the rainbow, we'll never see it", and the day after that the UN decided it really needed an aircraft carrier that year. It's supposed to be ironic or something."

Shinji stared at Misato. "That... is a pretty terrible reason," he said. Before she could reply, they noticed a redheaded girl in a yellow sundress (_I wonder how long it'll take before a gust of wind just so happens to blow by here?_ Shinji wondered cynically) striding towards them. Shinji sighed. "Great, more people to deal with." Misato glared at him. "It's not like I slept at all last night, Misato," he explained.

"Should have thought of that before you spent the entire night with your girlfriend," Misato whispered, smirking. The incoming girl stopped in front of the group, glaring at each of the boys in turn.

"So which one of you _arschlochs_ is the pilot of Unit One?" she demanded, arms folded across her chest. Shinji pinched the bridge of his nose unconsciously. _There goes any hope of her being quiet like Rei_, he thought.

"That would be me," he said, raising his hand. "Shinji Ikari." He paused, waiting for the girl to introduce herself. Several seconds of awkward silence ensued. "So... who are you?" he ventured after a while.

"I am Asuka Langley Sorhyu, Pilot of Evangelion Unit Two! NERV has decided to finally bring in their only real pilot to the single most important war on the planet," declared the girl – Asuka. Shinji could almost feel the amusement radiating off of Misato.

"Okay," Shinji replied. Being calm and level was probably the best way to get through this. "It's nice to meet you, Asuka Langley Sorhyu. Now then-" A gust of wind from a landing VTOL swept over them, and Shinji looked away before dust could get in his eyes. He heard the sound of two slaps, and somehow knew exactly what had happened before he turned back. Toji was glaring at Asuka, while Kensuke had gone back to obsessing over all the ships. Two bright red handmarks were visible on their faces.

"And that," he said, exasperated, "is why wearing a short sundress on the deck of a ship is a bad idea." Asuka glared at him, and he got the feeling he was about to receive a handprint of his own.

Before that could happen, Misato intervened. "Alright, Asuka," she said, "Take us up to the bridge."

* * *

"No, no, no, no! I will **not** have NERV taking over my damned fleet!" yelled Admiral Borodin, pushing aside the form Misato was holding out to him. "I had enough of your damned giant robots in the Impact Wars!"

"Relax, _tovarishch_," said Admiral Jones from the back of the room – something called a "Combat Information Centre" rather than the bridge for some reason. _Isn't it supposed to be the bridge? _thought Shinji. "They just want to cover all the bases."

"Don't you start," snapped Borodin, "this whole damned thing is your fault."

"Regardless, **Admiral**," cut in Misato, "If an Angel attacks then as per UN Resolution seventy-two thirteen, all forces flying the UN banner are obligated to help."

"Like that's going to happen," came a voice from behind Shinji, who was doing his best to make himself seem invisible. It wasn't hard, considering the girl they'd come to meet. "I see you're looking as beautiful as ever, Misato."

"Oh please, someone tell me that's not who I think it is," said Misato as she slowly turned around. "Of all the people who could possibly turn up again in my life, it just had to be Ryoji fucking Kaji."

"Don't act so surprised," said the man – Kaji. "We both know we were meant for other."

"Enough!" said Borodin, forcefully. "Get the hell out of my CIC, all of you." Toji took the lead – apparently he got seasick as well as airsick – as they filtered out of the room. Kensuke tried to hang around long enough to get a picture, but a pointed look from Misato ushered him out.

"Hey, Shinji!" called Asuka as he tried to escape somewhere quiet. "Come with me for a moment, I've got something to show you." _This is going to end really, really well, isn't it? _Shinji thought.

Back in the CIC, Borodin and Jones shared a despairing look. "Anyway," said Jones, "I should be getting back to the _Lancaster_. We've taken on enough fuel to make it to the depot at Singapore, so we should be okay to make it all the way back."

"Safe travels, _tovarishch_," replied Borodin as Jones left the room.

* * *

"It's... red," said Shinji, lamely. The Evangelion in front of him was impressive, but he honestly couldn't find any other differences besides the colour.

"Damn right it's red!" exclaimed Asuka from behind him. "It's my Unit Two! He's stronger, faster and easier to use than ever other Evangelion in existence!"

"It's... smaller than Unit One," noted Shinji absently. "Unit Zero is, too. Why is that?"

"That's because they left your failed prototype in the growth medium until the Fourth Angel showed up," said Asuka. "He's -" she indicated Unit 02 - "not had as much time to grow. But he's still better than yours, rookie!"

"Does this mean I don't have to take point any more?" asked Shinji. With Rei as the only other pilot, he'd never complained about being the first pilot deployed (mostly because Unit 00 seemed to be in a permanent state of repair), but now they had another pilot...

"Oh, so the little _arschloch _thinks he's clever, does he?" growled Asuka. "You seem to be pretty lucky, so I think you'll stay there. Maybe you'll take down one or two Angels before I mop the floor with them."

Shinji resorted to sarcasm. "Please don't," he said, "It doesn't work so well. I tried it with the Fourth, I just ended up getting blood everywhere..." He could almost feel the glare drilling into his spine, but before the redhead could say anything else the cargo ship they'd transferred to rocked violently, sending them both sprawling. This time, Shinji managed to avoid an awkward situation, but almost ended up in the weird storage fluid Unit 02 was bathing in.

"The **fuck** was that?" said Asuka as she got to her feet. Another explosion rocked the ship, and Shinji's heart sank.

"An Angel," he said.

* * *

"Battle stations!" ordered Admiral Jones as he stepped into the CIC of the _Lancaster_. Around him, the crew scurried to comply. A wireframe projection of the battlefield sprung up from the table in the centre of the room, and Jones surveyed the situation. _The Diamond's gone,_ he noted, _and it looks like the Bezuprechnyy is taking on water. _"It's headed for the _Over the Rainbow_," he said. "Helm! Position us between the enemy and the carrier!"

The _Lancaster_'s engines span up, pushing the frigate into the combat zone. The rest of the fleet was a mess – each individual ship seemed to be doing whatever the hell it liked without thought for any others. "Get me the _Rainbow_," Jones ordered, and picked up the phone on the table. "What the hell is going on over there, Vasily?"

All that came over the line was the distant sound of arguing. He swore he could hear that NERV officer's voice again. Sighing, he put the phone back in its cradle and opened up the command channel. "All ships," he ordered, "begin dispersal and submarine chasing manoeuvres. Stop acting like a bunch of headless chickens, you idiots!"

Some of the ships on the tactical plot began to move slightly more intelligently, but it was still a mess. "Any word on what it is?" he asked.

"Sensors confirm an AT field is present," said one officer. Everyone fell silent; all the crew had seen Unit 07 on at least one rampage. "It's underwater, sir," the officer continued.

"Alright," said Jones, resting his head in his hands. "What can I use here..."

"Sir!" called another officer, "Transmission from the _Blue Marlin_! Unit Two is active!"

"Fucking idiot girl," muttered Jones. "They'll sink the moment they get into the water."

"Ummm... sir?" said the officer, "You might want to watch them on the plot..."

Jones looked up. "What the **shitting hell are they doing?**"

* * *

"This is a really, really bad idea," Shinji protested, trying desperately to keep certain body parts from contacting certain female body parts. "Look, these things don't float too well! It's underwater! Do the maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAA-" 

Asuka launched the Evangelion off of the deck of the heavy lift ship, aiming not for the Angel but the _Kirov_-class battlecruiser that was trying to get away from the Angel. Shinji only breathed out when it seemed like they were stable, only for Asuka to launch them into the air again. This time, they landed on the deck of the _Over the Rainbow_, where a power cord was waiting. 

"Thanks, Misato!" Asuka said cheerfully. "Now, come hither little Angel..." 

Almost as if responding to the challenge, the Angel flew from the water. Asuka dove under the gigantic fish, stabbing one of the Eva's knives into its stomach. All that accomplished was dragging Unit 02 halfway down the deck of the carrier before she managed to get the knife free, cursing. One of the destroyers in the fleet tried to take a shot with its cannon, but the shot went wide and slammed into Unit 02's back, knocking it over. 

"Shinji!" Asuka yelled as they stood up, "Get them to cut that out so I can **kill this bastard!**" 

Not willing to risk the wrath of the redhead, Shinji accessed the command channel using the NERV override code Rei had given him just before he'd left that morning. "All ships," he said, "This is... this is..." Unit 02 rocked as the Angel made another pass and an anti-ship missile blew the left shoulder pylon off. "This is Evangelion Unit Two! Cease firing on the Angel, you're getting in the way!" he yelled, the pain of the impact coming through even though he shouldn't have been synchronised. 

"This is _Lancaster_ Actual," came a voice. "Copy that, Unit Two. Good hunting." 

Job done, Shinji sat back. It was time to think of a way to kill the Angel, and Asuka couldn't do it like this. An evil smile crept onto his face as one occurred to him. "_Lancaster_ Actual, this is Unit Two," he said, trying to remember radio protocol. "How many sonar sets have we got in the fleet?"

* * *

"That glorious bastard!" cried Jones as he grasped Shinji's plan. "More than enough," he replied. "Just give the word."

"Copy that, _Lancaster_," said the boy on the other side of the line. "Do it whenever you're ready."

"Sir," an officer reported, "There's an aircraft launching from the _Rainbow_. No-one's cleared for launch..."

"Let it go," said Jones. "We have slightly bigger fish to fry." He re-opened the fleet-wide channel, and barked "All sonar-equipped ships, prepare to go active on my mark. Maximum power, highest frequency!"

"Ready on your mark, sir!" reported the officer in charge of the sonar set.

"Don't bother," ordered Jones. "We need to see if this works." 

* * *

The Angel made yet another pass over the carrier, trying to get at the desperate call it could feel within. Suddenly, the call seemed to be coming from far above, but the Angel could no longer focus on its mission. Wave after wave of sound poured in from every direction, each one powerful enough to shake a human body apart. Combined, it was too much even for the Angel to bear. It was even interfering with its senses, rendering it nearly blind.

Nearly.

It could "see" two of the metal boxes that were trying to stop it from completing its mission. Acting on instinct, it pushed itself along at full speed towards the nearest object.

On board the _Lancaster,_ the crew didn't even have time to react. Several thousand tonnes of angry Angel ploughed into the frigate, cracking it in half. The Angel spun, and charged towards the second metal box.

* * *

"The _Lancaster's_ gone!" shouted some voice in Shinji's ear as the Angel demolished the ship next to them. "It's headed for the _Rainbow!_" Shinji felt a chill run down his spine. _We can't protect the carrier if it doesn't jump again,_ he thought. _And if it goes down, so do we_.

"Fuck that," he said. Asuka turned around to look at him. "Kill this bastard," he said.

Asuka grinned, and they jumped.

The red Evangelion landed on the back of the Angel, forcing it to a stop. Asuka stabbed at it again and again with the knives, but couldn't get through its armour. Shinji wondered why the Angel didn't just dive, before realising the sonar pulses were probably discouraging it. The Angel twisted, trying to swallow the Evangelion... and there was its core.

"You know," Shinji said dryly, "I kind of expected it to be there." Asuka didn't reply, but shoved the Eva's hand down the Angel's throat. Its jaws clamped around the arm, but they ignored the pain and stabbed the knife into the core once... twice... three times... and then the core shattered, and the Angel stopped struggling.

"That..." Shinji began, as the two pilots struggled for breath.

"Was annoying," finished Asuka.


End file.
